To The Ends Of The Earth
by Tapi20
Summary: James and Lily: Their story from the end of fifth year until their deaths
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All credits to JK. Also, from the beginning of this chapter up until when McGonagall shows up is almost a direct quotation from **_**Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix**_**, pages 571-572.**

**.o.O.o.**

_June, 1975_

**Chapter 1**

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Severus Snape spat out.

Lily Evans blinked and felt a little stab of pain at his words.

"Fine," she said as coolly as she could. "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."

"Apologise to Evans!" James Potter roared at Severus, his wand pointed threateningly at him.

"I don't want you to make him apologise," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is."

"What?" yelped James, "I'd _never_ call you a - you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me _sick_." She turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Evans!" James shouted after her. "Hey, _Evans_!"

But she didn't look back.

"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though he wasn't genuinely asking the question.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius Black.

"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right–"

There was flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside-down in the air.

"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"

The crowd of students roared, and James grinned. He raised his wand and prepared to cast the spell, but–

"_Potter_! Release Severus this instant!"

James groaned. How the hell did she always manage to arrive just when things were getting good? He lowered Severus to the ground, and turned slowly around to see the imposing witch striding towards the crowd, clearly furious.

"You should be ashamed, all of you! Participating in this sort of activity… I am disgusted with you, especially those of you in my house. I expect more from Gryffindor students." Professor McGonagall had reached James, Sirius and Severus by now. "All of you go to your dormitories at once and five points each from your houses!"

The crowd gasped in horror. A few students even called out in protest.

"That's enough! Go to your dormitories now, before I take more points!"

The crowd, still grumbling, began to disperse. James, even though he knew it was futile, tried to melt into the crowd, but McGonagall's voice stopped him.

"Not you Potter." James glanced up sheepishly at her. "I want to see you and Mr. Black in my office now. And Mr. Lupin," Remus Lupin stopped packing his bags and looked up in surprise. McGonagall just shook her head sadly. "You've disappointed me, Remus. I expected more from you. I thought you were better than allowing this behaviour to go on in front of you." Remus blushed scarlet and looked down. Peter Pettigrew, who was standing next to Remus, muttered something to him and patted his arm consolingly. Remus shrugged him off.

McGonagall turned and started walking back to the castle. James and Sirius grabbed their bags and ran after her, knowing, from past experience, that she didn't like to be kept waiting.

Professor McGonagall was silent as she led the boys through the halls to her office. James had a sinking feeling that they had crossed a serious line today, and he knew that Sirius knew it to.

Once in the office, James and Sirius took the two uncomfortable wooden chairs in front of her desk, while McGonagall went and sat in her chair. She glared stonily at them over the rims of her square glasses.

"I never thought I would see the day when James Potter and Sirius Black became bullies. Pranksters, yes, but intentionally causing another student a trauma that would scar them for the rest of their lives… I am disgusted. Explain yourselves."

James and Sirius glanced at each other in dismay. There wasn't an explanation to give. They hadn't been provoked, they hadn't been defending someone's honour, and they couldn't make up a story because there were so many witnesses. The truth of the matter was that they had been bored, and it had seemed like harmless amusement. James had no idea how the whole affair had taken such a dark turn.

Professor McGonagall continued to stare at them in stony silence, waiting for their answer.

Finally, Sirius just said, "Sorry Professor."

McGonagall stared at him, until he started to fidget, having interpreted this to mean, quite correctly, that there was no explanation. All the way up to the castle, she had hoped against hope that there would be a good reason for the behaviour, but now…

She turned to James, waiting for him to speak. James gulped and adjusted his glasses, before saying, "We don't have an excuse for starting it."

"So you were going to undress the poor boy in front of all of Hogwarts because you had nothing better to do?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, I was going to undress him because he called Evans a–" James paused, having difficulty saying the word, "a you-know-what."

"No Potter, I don't 'know-what'."

"A – Well, um," James took a breath to steady himself. Who would have thought that it would be so hard to say that one damn word? "He called her–" He paused again.

"Mudblood. He called her a Mudblood." James shot a small, grateful smile at Sirius.

McGonagall's mouth tightened at the word. "That may be, but that does not, in any way, excuse your actions. Is that your only explanation?"

"Yes."

"Very well. One hundred points from Gryffindor house."

"_One hundred_ points!" Sirius stared at her in disbelief.

"Each. And two months detention. Be grateful it isn't more. If Evans hadn't warned me to come down immediately, and I had found Severus stripped, you would both be expelled. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt, and believing that had I not come, you would have come to your senses and stopped yourselves."

The boys were silent for a moment, then Sirius asked, "Did you say two months of detention?"

McGonagall's lips tightened. "Yes, Mr. Black, I did."

"But, Professor," ventured James, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but school ends in three days, and we have OWLs. I thought that teachers weren't allowed to give fifth and seventh year students detentions during exams, and anyways, we aren't here for two months."

"I know Mr. Potter. You will begin your detentions in September, and we will decide what they are at that point."

James and Sirius looked at each other in dismay. September was usually a clean slate and carrying over detentions would completely destroy that illusion.

"That is all. You may go."

**.o.O.o.**

"_One hundred points_ Prongs!" Sirius hissed as soon as they were away from McGonagall's office. "_And_ two months detention! The Gryffindors are gonna _kill_ us! We were so close to the Puff's in house points. This'll drop us back behind Slytherin even!"

"I know, Sirius, I know. But there's nothing we can do about it."

"'Cept take the mickey outa Evans."

James stopped and glared at Sirius. "Don't you dare. I know she turned us in, but she's still, well, you know. And today has to have been hard for her anyways, with Snivelly going rouge, and she's probably really freaked about the Transfiguration O.W.L. tomorrow. She doesn't need us ribbing her for being a good Prefect."

"You call that being a good Prefect?" Sirius asked, incredulous, "Mooney's a good Prefect. He doesn't turn his mates in for a bit of harmless fun."

"That's just it though. We're not Evans's mates, and it wasn't really harmless. If we had actually, you know, _stripped_ Snivellus, he would probably have been too embarassed to ever show his face in public again."

"Then why the hell didn't we!?" James couldn't help grinning at that. "We would never have to see him again, he wouldn't be standing in between you and Evans anymore–"

"He may have taken care of that himself, when he called Evans the M word."

"True. But there's also a very, very, very good reason to permanently scar him."

"Oh ya? What's that?"

"If he never shows his face ever again he'll have a hard time being a Death Eater."

James's smile faded at the mention of the war. He grunted in response.

**.o.O.o.**

when Sirius and James walked into the dormitory, Remus was drilling Peter about Transfiguration facts. He didn't look up, but Peter jumped up quickly.

"What happened? Are you expelled? McGonagall looked _furious_!"

"No were not expelled, but we won't be alive for much longer either." Sirius said morosely.

"Why?" Peter asked, although James couldn't help noticing that he didn't really sound like particularly wanted to know.

"McGonagall took a hundred points each from Gryffindor as well as giving us two months of detention."

"_You lost us two hundred points!?_" Peter exclaimed. "You're doomed!"

James grunted and stretched himself out on his bed. Remus looked up.

"Well, I'm more worried about the detentions. If they land on the full moon, my furry little problem might get out of hand. It can get out of the Shack on its own now."

James paled at the thought of a werewolf running around Hogwarts. Sirius and Peter looked none too pleased at the thought either.

"Well, we'll just have to skip those detentions and take the punishments."

"Can we talk about another issue now?" asked Sirius.

"Didn't know there was another issue, Padfoot."

"It's about a letter from my parents."

James nodded, pointed his wand at the door, and muttered _"Muffliato"_.

"You all know that Mum's been hinting for weeks about a 'special surprise' that they're gonna give me when term ends, right? Well she finally gave it away, but I don't know whether or not she meant to."

"What'dyou mean?" Peter looked thoroughly confused.

"Well she said something about how, since I was always aiming for the 'bad boy' reputation, she would finally allow me to get a 'very special tattoo' on my forearm."

James's eyes widened in shock, and there was an audible gasp from Remus. Peter still looked confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means they'll turn him Death Eater."

Peter stared at James, then Sirius, then James again. If the situation hadn't been serious, his expression might have been comical. James broke the brief silence.

"What're you gonna to do?"

"Dunno. I can't just break out on my own, I don't have the money to live on and I'm still underage. But I can't exactly go home and become a Death Eater, either."

They all lapsed into silence again, trying to think of a way out of the situation.

"Well…" said Remus, slowly, "Mrs. Potter always said that you should spend a few weeks during the summer. If James wrote now, it might be arranged for you to spend the first weeks of the summer there. It will buy time to figure out a more permanent solution."

Sirius's face broke into a grin of relief.

"Moony, you're a genius! I'll write Mum now." James said, already pulling his school bag towards him and rifling around for some scrap parchment and a quill.

The note was scribbled hurriedly, and before long James was bounding down the steps to the Common Room, stuffing the Marauder's Map into his back pocket, grabbing his invisibility cloak, and slipping out into the hallway. Although it technically wasn't after hours yet, he didn't want to run into McGonagall. And

At that thought, he paused and pulled out the Map, muttering "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ink spiralled out from the point where his wand was touching the parchment, forming a detailed map of Hogwarts and forming the words, "Welcome, Mr. Prongs." James grinned and scanned the map quickly. After assuring himself that the Owlrey was empty and that McGonagall was safely in her office, he muttered "Mischief Managed" and stuffed the map back into his trousers pocket.

**.o.O.o.**

It didn't take James long to reach the Owlrey. He was half way up the stairs when he heard the sound of crying drifting down towards him. Not wanting to deal with tears, he slipped his cloak on over his head, and creeped up the stairs quietly. As soon as the crying girl was in view, he froze.

"Look, Lily." Alice Payne said, blocking her friend from climbing down the stairs. "I know he meant a lot to you, but this is Severus Snape. Remember what he did to Mary in fourth year?"

"That wasn't Sev that was Mulciber. And you never understood my friendship with Sev. Now please move so I can go back to the Common Room."

"No, Lily, we need to talk about this. Look, I understood your friendship; I just really didn't like it. What I don't understand is the way you treated Potter today." James felt a little jolt at the mention of his name.

Lily glared at her. "I don't want to talk about that egotistical prick."

Alice glared back. "He stood up for you when Snivellus–"

"Don't call him that."

"You can't say that anymore because _you_ called him Snivellus!"

Lily glared again.

"Potter tried to make _Severus_ take back calling you a Mudblood."

"So?"

"Last week when McDougal knocked into you in the hallway, and then laughed? Well he ended up in the Hospital Wing because Potter 'accidentally' flew to close to him in the Quidditch game and McDougal fell off his broom and broke his legs. Remember when Forrester cheated on you earlier this year? Well, he ended up going to St. Mungo's because of some undetermined mix of four invented hexes and none of the teachers could undo them. Mulciber and Avery have ended up Jinxed every time they called you Mudblood, and what happened to Malfoy back in third year, and what happened to Lestrange in second. And then there was also–"

"What's your point, Alice?" Lily asked, flushing slightly.

"What will it take for you to admit that James Potter loves you, that you love him, and that you two belong together?"

James could hardly believe what he was hearing. He'd had no idea that Alice approved so heartily of him.

Lily waited a long time before answering. "I don't love him Alice, let alone like him. He is stupid, arrogant, egotistical and a bully. I know that he has a noble streak; I've seen it when people threaten his friends, mostly Remus and Peter. But if Potter ever grows up and deflates that big head of his and stops hexing everyone just because he can, then I might consider going out with him. Now can you please move?!"

James pressed himself as close to the wall as he could to allow the girls walk past him and down the circular staircase. Only once they were out of sight did he remove the cloak and make his way into the Owlrey. He posted the letter as fast as he could and practically ran back to the dormitory.

"She said she'd go out with me!" he yelled as he burst through the door, startling Peter so much, he fell off the bed.

"Who is she, and how did you find out?" Remus asked.

"Evans."

"What?" yelped Sirius.

James grinned and told his dumbstruck audience about the conversation he had overheard on the staircase.

"Well, what're you gonna do?"

"I'll change. I'll turn into the man she wants me to be."

"It's not going to be easy Prongs."

"I know, but that's what I have you lot for, to help me."

Sirius grinned. "Sure, and whenever you start sinking into bad habits, we'll send a Stinging Hex your way!"

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I would love it if you took one second and reviewed. You can write one word or one hundred, I just like hearing what you think!**

**Tapi**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All credits to JK. Also, Lily's conversation with Severus is almost a direct quotation from **_**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows**_**, page 542.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 2**

"Look, Lily." Alice said, blocking Lily from climbing down the stairs. "I know he meant a lot to you, but this is Severus Snape. Remember what he did to Mary in fourth year?"

"That wasn't Sev that was Mulciber. And you never understood my friendship with Sev. Now please move so I can go back to the Common Room."

"No, Lily, we need to talk about this. Look, I understood your friendship; I just really didn't like it. What I don't understand is the way you treated Potter today."

Lily turned to glare at Alice. "I don't want to talk about that egotistical prick"

Alice glared back. "He stood up for you when Snivellus–"

"Don't call him that." Lily barely even registered saying it, it was just habit by now.

"You can say that anymore because _you_ called him Snivellus!"

Lily glared again.

"Potter tried to make _Severus_ take back calling you a Mudblood."

"So?"

"Last week when McDougal knocked into you in the hallway, and then laughed? Well he ended up in the Hospital Wing because Potter 'accidentally' flew to close to him in the Quidditch game and McDougal fell off his broom and broke his legs. Remember when Forrester cheated on you earlier this year? Well, he ended up going to St. Mungo's because of some undetermined mix of four invented hexes and none of the teachers could undo them. Mulciber and Avery have ended up Jinxed every time they called you Mudblood, and what happened to Malfoy back in third year, and what happened to Lestrange in second. And then there was also–"

"What's your point, Alice?" Lily asked, flushing slightly.

"What will it take for you to admit that James Potter loves you, that you love him, and that you two belong together?"

Lily's stomach lurched again. She flushed darker, and it was on the tip of her tongue to say that she hated James Potter and would forever, but Alice would never except that as an answer.

Lily waited another moment, searching out an explanation that would satisfy Alice, but that she would never have to comply with. "I don't love him Alice, let alone like him. He is stupid, arrogant, egotistical and a bully. I know that he has a noble streak; I've seen it when people threaten his friends, mostly Remus and Peter. But if Potter ever grows up and deflates that big head of his and stops hexing everyone just because he can, then I might consider going out with him. Now can you please move?!" Lily finally managed to push past Alice and continue down the stairs

"Do you really mean it?"

No. "Yes. If he changes, I will date him. Now please drop the subject and don't bring it up again."

"Fine, fine … Are you ready for Transfiguration tomorrow?"

Lily groaned. "No. I don't think I'll ever be ready, even if we were given an entire year to study for it."

"But you understand all of it, don't you? You just need to review the concepts, and you'll be golden!"

"Ha! I wish! There are still a couple concepts that I don't get at all."

**.o.O.o.**

"Do you want to study together tonight?" Lily asked as they reached Gryffindor Tower.

"I'm sorry, I can't, I promised Frank that I'd meet him in the library, but if you're having a lot of trouble with it, ask Potter. No, don't glare. Potter actually knows what he's talking about. He'll probably be helping Peter Pettigrew anyways, so you won't really be taking any more of his time up. I'll see you later."

Lily sighed and watched Alice disappear through the portrait hole as she left for the library. She then settled into a small window seat, almost entirely secluded in shadows and pulled out her books.

**.o.O.o.**

Five hours later, Lily looked up, rolling her neck and taking in the nearly empty common room. She was alone except for a small study group by the fire.

"-and since the inanimate don't have solaryi, it makes it relatively easier to transfigure it into an animate. The animate though, have solaryi, which means that it is more difficult to transfigure them into inanimate due to the fact that solaryi are foreign to the inanimate. Dervishire realized that, and so developed the Solariax Principle. It's simple!"

"Yes, James, it's very wonderful that you can quote the textbook verbatim, but that won't help Peter in the slightest. Actually, you're confusing me and I _understand_ the Principle."

Lily stared. Even though Remus had identified the original speaker as Potter, it was hard to believe that he had spoken so inteligenty.

"Ya, mate. And what the hell is a solari-thingy anyways?"

Potter groaned and ran his hands through his hair in distress. "I _just_ explained that!"

"Well explain it again. And in English this time." Black sounded almost as exasperated as Potter.

Potter sighed, pushed his glasses back up his nose, and leaned forwards, bracing his elbows on his knees. "Okay. A solarius is a soul, as in the inner-most incarnation of each animate thing. Solaryi is plural for solarius." Lily grabbed her quill and started taking notes, realizing that Potter was explain the last concept that she didn't understand, and that so far, he seemed to be making sense of it.

"In Transfiguration, to be classified animate, an object has to have a beating heart. Plants grow and move, but since they don't have hearts, they are classified inanimate. Now, because inanimates don't have souls, when you transfigure them into animates, they become sort of like self-cleaning pots. The pots realize when they are dirty, and they clean themselves. The inanimate-animates realize when they are hungry, and they eat. But they don't think. Our solaryi are in charge of thinking, and inanimate-animates don't have souls."

"Wait," Sirius interrupted, "Inanimate-animate?"

"An inanimate-animate is an inanimate object that has been transfigured into an animate. An animate-inanimate is an animate object that has been transfigured into an inanimate. Anything else before I move on?" When the other three remained silent, Potter leaned back, closed his eyes, and continued.

"Okay. Animate objects have solaryi. This means that when you transfigure them into inanimates, the solarius has to go somewhere. What ends up happening is that the solarius ends up in this sort of in-between place. It's tethered to its host–"

"Host?" Remus was asking this time.

"Dervishire believed in re-incarnation. He thought that bodies were simply vessels hosting the immortal solaryi, believing that the solaryi were like fallen Gods."

"Right."

"So the solarius ends up in the in-between place. It's tethered to its host but it's almost frozen in time. It becomes unconscious of time passing until the animate-inanimate is transfigured back into an animate. That is the basis behind the principle. Do you all understand?"

Peter slowly shook his head.

Potter groaned again. "What don't you understand?"

"Most of it."

Potter waited awhile before answering with a condescending smile. "There once were four friends who could all transform into different animals. The littlest boy transformed into a rat with a wormy little tail." Sirius and Remus snorted with laughter and Peter grinned. "The boy's tail was so wormy, that his three friends, Mooney, Padfoot, and Prongs, all decided to call him Wormtail."

Lily blinked at the direction the conversation had taken. Everyone knew of the notorious Marauders, Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, but no one knew who they were. Actually, if they were Animagi, it would explain where the names came from. Padfoot was probably some sort of dog, Wormtail, according to Potter, was a rat, Mooney would probably be a wolf or some other nocturnal animal, and Prongs… something with antlers, a stag maybe.

"Now," Potter continued, "When Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail first transformed on the day before the September full moon, they all had some difficulty. Prongs, of course, transformed first–"

"Oi! Why's it so obvious that y- _Prongs_ transformed first?"

Potter laughed at Black's tone. "Because Prongs was the smartest and best looking!"

Black opened his mouth to argue but Peter cut in. "Don't start, I want to know what happens next!" The other three boys roared with laughter at that, and Peter flushed. Lily didn't see what was so funny about it all.

"Okay, okay. So Prongs transformed first into his animal, a beautiful, strong, noble–"

"Not to mention modest." Remus muttered. Potter grinned, and continued.

"A stag. Prongs transformed into a stag. The next one to manage it was Padfoot. He transformed into a ragged, patchy, mangy–" Black's face flushed crimson while Remus and Peter roared with laughter.

"Come on, tell it seriously."

"Only for you mate. Okay, Padfoot transformed into a hulking, insanely strong, absolutely stunning, sleek black dog. Mooney, even though he was feeling really ill, had come to watch the others transform. Now, while Prongs and Padfoot were frisking about in happiness, Mooney stayed by Wormtail to try and help him to change. Eventually Padfoot and Prongs stopped frisking–"

Black muttered something about never frisking in his life.

Potter grinned and continued. "And they came back so that they could also help little Wormy. Wormtail started to worry that if he ever did manage to transform, he would transform into a book or a piece of fluff. Finally, Wormtail was able to transform into a nice, little, wormy-tailed brown rat. The next night, all four friends frisked away to their hearts content and were happy forever more. And little Wormtail could transform into a rat whenever he wanted. Does anyone know Wormtail transformed into a rat and not piece of fluff?" Potter looked pointedly at Pettigrew.

"Because animals have souls, so you can transform into them but not into a fluff because fluffs don't?"

"There you go Petey. I knew you weren't really that thick! Okay and back to the principle." Lily jolted, remembering what the conversation had originally been about.

Potter adjusted his glasses and leaned forwards again. "The Solariax Principle basically says that it is harder to transfigure an animate into an inanimate than it is to transfigure an inanimate into an animate. Can anyone tell me why?" Potter, Black, and Remus looked at Peter who remained silent. Finally Peter looked up.

"Is it because it takes more energy and power to freeze the soul than to create the appearance of life?"

"Yes!" Potter cheered, "Finally! Thank Merlin! Now I am going to bed and I don't care if we were supposed to plan the next full moon. I have an exam tomorrow that I _have_ to ace, otherwise McGonagall will still hate me in September. Good night!"

The other three boys followed him up the stairs, laughing at Potter's dramatics.

Lily slowly gathered her things together, and headed up the stairs to her dormitory, thinking about what Potter had said about the Marauders and wondering what the hell he had meant about the full moon.

Once Lily was back in her room, all she could seem to think about was Sev and what had happened by the lake. She started to cry quietly as she pulled on a night dress, brushed her teeth and hair, drew the curtains shut around her bed and curled up under the comforter.

She barely heard the door creak open and the whispered "Lily?"

"Lily?" Mary McDonald whispered again and tentatively peered through the hangings, whispering "Lily." more forcibly.

Lily rolled over and muttered "What?"

"I'm sorry, but Severus Snape is standing outside the portrait hole and he won't leave until he sees you. He says he'll sleep in the hallway if he needs to."

"Let him."

"Please go see him Lily? It's really creepy to think that there's a Slytherin sleeping outside the portrait hole. And what if Potter and Black see him? Do honestly want that?"

"Fine. I'll go see what he wants." groaned Lily as she rolled out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown. She padded down the stairs and through the deserted Common Room.

She took a steading breath and composed herself before cautiously stepping out of the portrait hole and into the corridor beyond.

"Lily!"

She sighed. She had half hoped that he wouldn't be there. "What do you want Severus?"

"I'm sorry really sorry Flower. You know I didn't mean it." Sev said, sounding heartfelt.

She almost gave in. She wanted to so badly, but …"I'm not interested."

"I am sorry!"

"Save your breath." Lily said, crossing her arms. "I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just–"

"Slipped out?" Lily made her voice as hard and unforgiving as she could. "It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

Severus opened his mouth, and then closed it without speaking.

Lily shook her head and started to turn away. "I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No–" Severus reached out, as though to grab her am, "listen, I didn't mean– "

"–to call me Mudblood?" Lily spat out, turning to glare at him, "But you call every one of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a sad look she turned and, murmuring the password, climbed back through the portrait hole.

Lily closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. That had been harder then she thought it would be. A tear trailed down her cheek. She pushed off the wall and opened her eyes to see James Potter, outlined against the fire place, looking at her sadly.

"What do _you_ want?" she asked, not at all in the mood to deal with Potter.

Potter turned and picked up his Transfiguration text book, which he had left lying on the coffee table in front of him. He started towards the stairs, but paused at the bottom, turned around and said sincerely and honestly, "I'm sorry you lost your best friend. It sucks." then turned and was up the stairs and back in his dorm room before she even registered what he had said.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I would love it if you took one second and reviewed. You can write one word or one hundred, I just like hearing what you think!**

**Tapi**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All credits to JK. **

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 3**

James opened his eyes to the shrill beeps of Peter's alarm. He rolled over and looked at the fuzzy blob that was his bedside table. Stretching out his arm, he fumbled around until he found his glasses, then swung his feet to the floor and headed for the bathroom. He noticed that Remus's bed was already made and Peter was sitting up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Sirius, predictably, had ducked back under his covers and hidden from the world.

James took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and pulled his least crumpled set of robes on. He gathered his books together as Sirius finally dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom. Peter had showered yesterday, so he just pulled on clothes and got his bag together.

When three of them were ready, they went down to the Great Hall to find Remus sitting in their usual place, reading a book as he ate his breakfast.

"Has the post come yet?" James asked as he slid onto the bench opposite Remus.

"Not yet." Remus barely even looked up from his book.

James grinned, and started piling up his plate. They ate in silence for ten minutes, listening to the chatter around them, until they heard someone yell, "Post!"

James looked up expectantly, hoping to see Fallow, the family owl. He grinned as he spotted her. Fallow was carrying the Daily Prophet and a letter.

Fallow dropped the paper beside James's plate, and the letter into his lap before landing on the table and starting to eat James's sausages.

James ignored the owl and eagerly ripped open the letter.

_Dear Jamie,_

_It is wonderful to hear that Sirius would like to visit us this summer. The first two weeks are convenient and he can stay as long as he likes! Your father and I look forward to seeing you when you get home, but your Uncle George has recently had another accident with that spell he is inventing and is once again in St. Mungo's. It's nothing serious, but you know how he hates staying there alone. Unfortunately, he won't be released from the hospital until the day after you come back so we won't be able to meet you at the Platform. We will send Pippin to meet you, and we look forwards to hearing all about your school year. _

_Best of luck on your remaining OWLs,_

_Love, Mum_

James grinned, and looked at Sirius.

"She says that you're more than welcome and can stay as long as you like. And guess what? She's sending the parlor maid to meet us at the Platform and we'll have the house to ourselves for a night! I know where they keep the Firewiskey!"

"Excellent! This'll be one hell of a summer Jamie, old boy!"

"Shut up. Only Mum can call me Jamie. Try it again, and you won't be spending the summer!"

"Just remember that this isn't a permanent solution. We still need to figure out what Sirius will do long term." said Remus, sensible as always.

At that moment, a black screech owl swooped low the table and dropped a letter into Sirius's plate of eggs.

Sirius tentatively picked up the letter. His face grew pale as he read it. "Shite."

"What?" Sirius just passed James the letter. Remus and Peter craned their necks to read it.

_Sirius,_

_As mentioned in the previous letter, your father and I have agreed to allow you to have a very special tattoo paced on the inner side of your forearm. You are not an imbicile, and have, no doubt, conjectured the meaning behind this. _

_Of course, there will be no time to waste. Your father and I will both meet you at the station. From there, we will apparate to the Hallowed Grounds. Do not worry about your luggage; Kreacher will bring it to Grimauled Place. _

_Once the ceremony is completed, I trust that you will remove those heinous decorations from your walls and that you will cease all interactions with those abominable Gryffindors. _

_Franciena Black_

James looked at Sirius in horror. "What're we gonna do?"

Sirius just shook his head in dismay. Remus was so still and quiet that James almost thought he had been petrified, and Peter was biting his nails furiously.

"I don't know. I just don't know."

"We'll talk about this later. Right now we have our exam." Remus said. "Look, Sirius, try not to worry. We'll get you out of there safely, even if it means that you have to leave as Padfoot."

The boys grabbed their bags and headed out of the Great Hall. A few minutes later, they were all called back in to write their exam. James found his seat and pulled out his ink and his quill.

He had to wait a few minutes before Professor Sprout, who was overseeing the exam, called out, "You may begin!"

James flipped over the exam and read the last question, _Define the Solariax Principle_. He grinned and thanked Merlin that the exam would be easy. The last question was always the hardest.

The exam passed in a blur. Before he knew it, he was re-reading his answers and trying to remember if he had forgotten anything.

Finished, he sighed and stretched. Grabbing a spare bit of parchment, he started doodling again, letting his mind wander. Naturally, it wandered to Sirius's predicament.

How to get Sirius out of this safely? Well, they could simply walk off the train and ignore his parents, but that wouldn't go over well at all. What if Pippin came and picked the two of them up from Hogsmeade? No, his parents would never agree to that. Well… Oh, that could work…

James quickly flipped over the parchment and started scribbling, working out the idea onto parchment. It was simple, but ingenious! No one would even know anything was going on. The only lose end would be Pippin, but James felt sure that she would play along. Pippen was the sort to never contradict one of her masters.

"Quills down!" called Professor Sprout. "Accio!" The exams zoomed up to the front of the Hall and piled themselves neatly onto the desk. "Thank you. You may all go."

James rose quickly to his feet, stuffed his OWL paper into his bag, and ran to join Sirius and Remus.

"Let's go to the Common Room. I want to talk about Sirius's problem. I may have found a solution."

Sirius looked hopeful. "Oi, Peter!" he called, "Get your sodden arse over here!"

"Language, Mr. Black!"

"Sorry, Professor." Sirius muttered as Professor Grubly-Plank continued out of the Great Hall.

"Come on." James said, grinning, and the four boys hurried their way up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Why are we running?" asked Peter.

"Because I want to know what Jamie–"

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry, Jamesie–"

"That's worse."

"Pr–"

"Don't you dare finish that word, we're in public!"

"Fine, _James–_"

"Thank you!"

"Figured out." Sirius finally finished.

"What did James figure out?"

"We don't know yet, you stupid arse, I just said that!"

"Well there's no need to call me an ass."

"Who called you an ass?" asked the fat lady. They had reached the Tower now.

"No one." Sirius said quickly, "Mimblewimble."

The fat lady huffed and swung forwards.

"Fine. We're here. Now what did you figure out?"

"In the dormitory first. It involves a certain someone whose name begins with a P."

Sirius grabbed James and dragged him up the stairs. Remus and Peter followed close behind.

"Slow down, Sirius!" James laughed. Sirius just shoved him into the room and said "What is it?"

"Wait for Remus." Sirius sighed in annoyance ran out of the dormitory and returned a minute and some yelling later dragging Remus behind him. Peter had settled onto the floor at the foot of James's bed.

Sirius slammed the door shut, cast a quick spell to make sure that no one could open the door, and muttered "_Muffliato_" before throwing himself onto his bed and saying. "Now what the bloody hell did you come up with? Don't you dare stall."

James grinned and pulled out his piece of scrap parchment. He went over to Sirius and Peter and Remus joined them. It didn't take James long to explain the whole idea, it was fairly simple.

Sirius gave a low whistle. "That's good. But what'll we do with my luggage?"

"Well, your owl can fly to the Manor and we'll put an Undetectable Extension Charm on your suitcase so that everything fits inside it. We just shrink your suitcase and put it in mine, and I'll carry it out."

"You know, this could actually work. Don't suppose you had any thoughts about what he could do long term?" Remus asked.

"Actually, yes. I think Sirius should just move into the Manor. We'll talk to my parents when we see them, try to explain it all as best we can, and I think they'll understand. They're anti-Death Eaters as well."

"Jamie-old-boy, I think you've done it!"

"Shut up." James replied and shoved Sirius off the bed.

"You want to brainstorm for the end of year prank?" Remus asked.

Peter grinned excitedly. "I had an idea for that, actually. I just don't know how we'd pull it off."

"Aw. Ickle-Petey came up with an idea all on his own?"

Remus pushed Sirius off the bed again. "Continue Peter."

Ears red, Peter quickly described what he had envisioned. The others were silent for a moment.

"Well. It seems like todays the day for ingenious ideas. We'll have trouble topping that next year."

Peter grinned and James's praise. "But how would we do it?"

"Oh it shouldn't be that hard. All we need are a few Animation Charm. The hard part will be getting to the plates. We ought to do it tonight. No sense in ruining the feast tomorrow." Remus said. "Sirius, why don't you find out about the plates after your Practical? You're on best terms with the house elves and you'll be finished first. We'll all set up after the Transfiguration Practical."

The other boys answered in the affirmative.

By now, it was lunch time, and the boys set out for the Great Hall.

"You know, there's still one thing that we've got left to plan. The full moon."

Remus grimaced. "I still don't understand how you lot can find the full moon fun."

"Aw, cheer up. It's not quite so bad. And you have to admit, your furry little problem has been getting easier to manage, hasn't it?" James asked.

"Yes, it's stopped biting itself, but that doesn't mean that it's any more enjoyable. Anyway, I'm not in the mood just now."

"Why don't we write the note?" Peter proposed. James grinned. When they had started playing pranks as the Marauders, they had come up with this idea of leaving a note, claiming the prank as their own. That way, students didn't get penalized for trouble making that they didn't commit.

As the boys slid onto the benches in the Great Hall and started piling up their plates, Remus pulled out a piece of parchment and his quill and inkwell. He pushed his plate out of the way, and dipped his quill into the inkwell, and asked "What are we going to say?"

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

"It's a bit cruel to say that considering what the prank is, Sirius."

"No, I mean right now. Aren't you going to eat lunch?"

"No. I'm not hungry."

James looked at him in concern. "Remus, you need to eat lunch. The moon's only four days away and we have our Transfiguration Practical this afternoon. If you don't eat, you won't have the energy for the more difficult spells."

"Look, I just feel a bit nauseous. I'm not hungry, and I don't want to eat. Now what do we want to say?"

Sirius looked at him sternly. "Remus, if you're too sick to eat, then the moon is going to be absolutely brutal."

"Thanks for the reminder."

"You need to go see Madame Pomfrey if you're feeling physical effects all ready."

"Fine, look I'm eating. Now stop faffing around and tell me what to write!"

James sighed, but decided it was better to let it go. "I don't know. Brief or lengthy?"

"Medium length." Peter decided.

"Good. So we start, _Dearest Professors and Students._"

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I would love it if you took one second and reviewed. You can write one word or one hundred, I just like hearing what you think!**

**Tapi**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All credits to JK. Also, **_**Be Our Guest**_** belongs to Disney. And I **_**know**_** that Beauty and the Beast was produced in 1991, but I really wanted to use this idea so just, for the sake of it, pretend that it already existed and that Lily grew up watching it. Please?**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 4**

"That exam was brutal!" Mary exclaimed as she ran up to Lily and Alice, waiting for the crowd to thin around the doors into the Entrance Hall.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. After all, the hardest question was the Solariax Principle, which is actually really easy if you get it explained right."

Mary stared at Lily, and Alice slowly started to smile. "You asked Potter for help didn't you?"

Lily blushed. "No, but he was helping Pettigrew with that theory and I listened in. You were right. He actually knows Transfiguration."

"Wait, what? Lily Evans is actually admitting that James Potter is good at something? When did this happen?"

Lily blushed darker. "Nothing happened. I can acknowledge when my fellow students are smart. Anyway, I actually wanted to talk to you about that."

"Talk about it how?"

"Well, when Potter was explaining it, he sort of told this story about the Marauders and how they're Animagi and their first transformation. It was odd, but Remus, Black and Pettigrew all acted as though it was common knowledge."

"Weird. But it's obviously not true. The only Animagus at Hogwarts is Professor McGonagall. And anyways, no one our age has ever accomplished Animagi status." Alice reasoned.

"True. But what if four of them did?" Mary asked.

"Well if they did, it's not like they would keep the knowledge to themselves. I don't think anyone would be able to resist the fame. And then there's also the fact that it's illegal to be an unregistered Animagus." Alice said, "Don't you get five to ten years in Azkaban, or something?"

"Yes."

"Well there you go. They were just making it up. I wouldn't think about it anymore. But speaking of the Marauders, have they done their end of year prank yet?" Alice asked.

"NO! I am so nervous! Their cutting it so close to the end of the year!" Mary and Alice continued talking about the mysterious Marauders as the three of them walked towards the Entrance Hall, the doorway sufficiently cleared.

Lily couldn't help thinking about what Alice had said about Potter's story. What Alice had said made sense of course, but she hadn't heard them talking last night. The way that Black got all worked up when Potter started criticizing Padfoot and Remus's comment about modesty when Potter was waxing poetic about Prongs. And even Pettigrew! He had blushed and looked embarassed whenever Potter mentioned Wormtail.

Wait… What if the four of them were the Marauders? If Potter was Prongs, Black was Padfoot, Pettigrew was Wormtail, and Remus was Mooney? No that was ridiculous! Pettigrew was afraid of everything, hardly an ingenious prankster, and Remus was so quiet and kind, he would never! And he was also a Prefect. He would be much too self-conscious. But Potter and Black … Well maybe.

"Earth to Lily!"

"Hmm?"

"When do you think the prank will be this year?" laughed Alice.

"Oh. I dunno. Today hopefully. I don't want it to be on the last day. That would be awful."

"Why would that be awful?" Mary asked.

"Because their pranks usually cause a bit of a mess and I don't want to have to deal with that on the last day of school."

"Why would you have to deal with it? Only the teachers and prefects have to clean up. Oh."

"Yes Mary. I'm a prefect." Lily smiled. "We have the Transfiguration Practical after lunch, right?"

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Mary groaned.

"Will you test me on my pronunciation?" Lily asked as she rummaged through her bag looking for the list of spells she had made up the day before. She groaned as she remembered that she had left it in her trunk. "Can you take my bag to the lake and I'll meet you there? I left my list of spells up in the Tower."

Alice nodded, and Lily turned and started into the body of the school while Mary and Alice headed out onto the grounds. "But really," she heard Alice say, "What do you think the prank will be?"

Lily couldn't help shaking her head and her friends' obsession with the Marauders. A lot of students thought that they were probably in either fifth or sixth year, judging from the spells that they used. This made most of the girls in those two years especially interested in them because, if they ever came out in public, they would probably be even more popular than Black and Potter, and it would be so cool to date one of them. Lily, of course had absolutely no interest in them.

"Mimblewimble." she muttered as she reached the portrait. She clambered through and ran up to her dormitory. As she rummaged through her trunk, she noticed that she had left her Transfiguration book and most of her Practical notes behind that morning. Wishing she had her bag with her, she gathered it all up in her arms and started down the stairs to the Common Room.

She had just reached the foot of the stairs when someone bumped into her rather forcibly and she lost her grip on her books and scrolls and they tumbled all over the floor.

"Bloody hell." she muttered as she knelt down to pick them up.

"Sorry about that." Lily pushed her hair out of her face to see Remus knelling down to help her pick the things up. "Sirius is a little impatient right now. James keeps hinting that he has something important to say, but he won't tell until we get to the dorm room."

"Oh, it was Potter who knocked into me, was it? Figures."

Remus gave her a small smile. "You know, he's really not that bad, once you get passed the ego. If you can actually steer him into a conversation about academics, he can really be quite intelligent."

"OI! Remus! Hurry up!"

Lily looked up to see Black yelling down from halfway up the stairs.

"Coming!" Remus called back. He and Lily stood up and Remus handed her the books and rolls of parchment.

"Remus, are you okay? You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine. Just haven't been getting enough sleep. Studying, you know?"

Lily smiled. She knew all too well. "All right. See you. And thanks for the help."

"Remus. HURRY UP!"

"I'm COMING!" Remus yelled back. "Look, give him a chance."

"After yesterday, I don't know if I _want_ to."

"You're sure? … Even if he changes?"

Lily looked at him sharply. How did he …? No, she was just imagining things. Well, the same answer she had given to Alice would suffice. "If he changed enough, then perhaps."

"REMUS!"

"OH, BUGGER OFF! Lily, are you sure?"

"Yes." Why did it matter so much to everybody?

"NOW YOU LITTLE NUMPTY!"

"I SAID BUGGER OFF YOU STUPID PILLOCK!" Remus yelled back, "Alright then."

"'Scuse us." Black had run down the stairs and he grabbed Remus by the arm and started dragging him back up the steps to the boys' dormitories.

"Bye Remus." Lily called after him, half laughing at Black's theatrics. She made her way back through the school and down to the lake where Alice and Mary had dumped their bags, shoes and socks. She sat down and shoved everything into her bag except the spell list.

Alice and Mary continued splashing in the shallows of the lake and discussing the Marauders. Lily could hardly believe they were still talking about that. She sighed and unrolled her list of spells.

She spent the hour before lunch reviewing as much as she could. At last the clock tower showed that lunch was ready and she called Alice and Mary in from the lake. Together the three of them ran up the steps into the Great Hall.

They spent lunch reviewing. Lily couldn't help glancing down the table at Remus, Black, Pettigrew and Potter. They were all whispering excitedly and huddling around a piece of parchment. Remus was writing something.

Lily sighed and looked at Alice, who was reciting as many spells as she could remember. As she did, she noticed Severus staring depressingly at her from the Slytherin table. When their eyes met, he flushed and looked down. Lily dragged her attention back to Alice who was just finishing her recitation.

" –_Avis, Unditolos, Tiffluous._ I think that's it."

"You forgot _Feraverto_."

"Damn!"

At this point, the professors started shooing the students out of the Great Hall so that they could set up. The fifth years all clustered in nervous clumps in the Entrance Hall. They were called in in groups of ten. Lily, unfortunately, was in the first group. By some perverse luck, she ended up beside Black. She heard his examiner say, "Please turn this turtle into a soup tureen." and Black lazily flicked his wand and muttered the spell.

Lily dragged her attention away and faced Examiner Polwittle. He smiled encouragingly and said, "Please turn this mouse into a crystal goblet."

Lily took a breath, tapped the mouse three times and said, "_Feraverto_."

Her Practical seemed to pass in an instant. Before she knew it, she had changed a raven into a writing desk, and back again, and Polwittle was thanking her and reminding her that she would receive all her final results sometime in the summer. She thanked him and exited the Great Hall in a daze.

She wandered the castle for a while before returning to Gryffindor Tower and brushing and pinning back her curls, which had become rather messy and wayward over the course of the day. Mary was already in the dormitory, freshening her makeup. She told Lily that Alice was walking with Frank Longbottom and that she had promised to meet them in the Great Hall at dinner time.

Lily and Mary started to do some preliminary packing and then headed back down to the Great Hall.

They saw Alice almost immediately and they slid onto the bench across from her. The Great Hall filled up quickly and before long Professor Dumbledore stood up and everyone fell silent.

"I would just like to say a quick congratulations to all the fifth year students on the, hopefully, successful completion of their OWLs and the seventh years on the completion of their NEWTs and their Hogwarts education!" The hall exploded in cheers. Lily cheered loudly along with the rest of the Great Hall. "And now, you supper!" Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands, but the food didn't appear.

Instead, the candles that had been floating nicely by the ceiling flew together and formed a giant, human-esk, candelabra that floated above their heads. Lily couldn't help thinking that it looked an awful lot like Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. Then it moved.

"Mesdames et Messieurs," the figure said in a booming voice and lilting French accent, "It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the house elves proudly present - your dinner!" The figure bowed and the food appeared on the plates as they rose slowly into the air.

"Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test. Tie your napkin 'round your neck, chérie, and we'll provide the rest." Lumiere sang. Lily laughed and watched along with the rest of the hall as the plates of food cartwheeled and danced to the familiar Disney tune.

"And it's all in perfect taste that you can bet! Come on and lift your glass, you've won your own free pass to be out guest. If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!"

The show was amazing and the spell work, spectacular. Lily glanced around to try and see if any students had their wands out, but no one did. Even the teachers were simply enjoying the show rather than trying to stop it. Dumbledore was even clapping along with the beat.

Lily grinned and returned her attention to the spectacle.

As the last note faded into silence and the plates and candles returned to normal, a letter popped into existence in front of the Headmaster.

Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. The Hall hushed once more.

"_Dearest Professors and Students:_

"_We've all had such fun this year pranking you all, and it's even more entertaining now that you Professors are starting to try and catch us. Valiant efforts, but we're still a few steps ahead!_

"_We'll be sorry to see you seventh years go. Won't be the same without you. Just think, two more years and we'll be gone too!_"

Dumbledore had to stop reading for a moment. It was the first time that the Marauders had given a hint as to what year they were in. When the Hall was quiet again, Dumbledore continued.

"_We'll miss you lot over the summer but we'll spend the entire time coming up with something to top this!_

"_We couldn't help noticing that some of you were attempting to venture guesses as to who we are. Keep trying! None of you are anywhere near being right by the way. Oh well! Best of luck!_

"_Forever yours,_

"_Messers Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs._"

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I would love it if you took one second and reviewed. You can write one word or one hundred, I just like hearing what you think!**

**Tapi**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, I **_**wish**_** I was Jo, but I'm not…**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 5**

The next day passed quickly as all the students finished their exams, packed and attended the final feast.

Gryffindor came in last thanks to the two hundred points that James and Sirius had lost. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor had also lost almost a hundred points each thanks to McGonagall taxing every bystander to the affair five points. None of the Gryffindors blamed Sirius and James for the loss, though, because they all wanted to forget their participation in the whole thing.

The next morning, the boys cast a few summoning charms to make sure that they hadn't forgotten anything, and removed all the residual charms they had left over the year. They floated their suitcases down the stairs and into the horseless carriages. As they all settled in, Sirius opened the door to his owl's cage and Gorgon flew out and into the sky. James had sent Fallow, home early with a letter for Pippin. He had told Fallow to wait at the Manor.

The boys were silent as the carriage bumped and rattled its way down to the Hogsmeade platform. They floated their trunks out of the carriage and onto the train, taking advantage of their magic while they could still use it. They found an empty compartment that had no window on the inside door and stowed Remus and Peter's trunks above the seats. They put James's in the middle and, checking to make sure that no one was looking, shrunk Gorgon's cage and put it in James's trunk according to plan. Sirius's trunk was placed on top of James's so that he could get at his muggle clothes later. Peter, James and Sirius all piled into the compartment while Remus made his way up to the Prefects car to receive his patrolling schedule.

"Hey. Don't worry." James said to Sirius, who was looking pale. "Everything'll go without a hitch." Sirius gave him a wan smile as the train lurched into motion.

"Oh, I know. I just didn't get enough beauty sleep last night."

"Sure." James laughed, "That's why you're pale. Not because you're nervous, but because you didn't get enough sleep!"

"Well, I also didn't eat this morning. That could be it." James just grinned and Remus walked into the compartment.

"Just wanted to tell you that I took the first two hours for patrol."

"Nice to know."

"Okay … See you in two hours." And he turned and walked away down the hall. Peter giggled.

"Hey," Sirius jumped up and called after Remus, "Can we walk with you?"

"Don't see why not." Remus called back.

"But we just sat down!" Peter complained.

"Come on you lazy arse. The exercise won't hurt you." Sirius said, glancing Peter's chubby form over. Peter turned pink and Sirius laughed, dragging him to his feet and pushing him down the hall to Remus. James followed close behind.

"How're you feeling today?" James asked Remus casually, masking his concern with nonchalance.

"Fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes…"

"You don't sound sure."

"It's just a headache. It's nothing."

Sirius fell into step on Remus's other side, leaving Peter stuck behind them.

"Do you have to go home right away? You could come and spend the moon at Potter Manor. Peter'll probably stop by, won't you Pete?"

"If I can get my parents to agree."

"See? Whadda you say Remy?"

"We have really nice forests behind the manor." tempted James.

Remus sighed. "I'll see. My parents might want me home."

**.o.O.o.**

The remaining hour and forty five minutes of the patrol was spent discussing harmless subjects, but James found his mind wandering to Lily. His mind kept going back to past conversations with her, insults floating through his mind. "_You really are awful_ … _don't know how you can live with yourself …_ _bullying innocent girls…_ _you really are a monster_." James shook his head trying to get the words out. He couldn't help thinking that Sirius had been right for once. It would be hard to change his habits and turn into a better person. Well, he was starting now. No more jinxes no more hexes.

Unfortunately at that moment, James was passing Snape's compartment. He was alone at the moment, sitting with his legs stretched straight in front of him, his back to the open door. He was reading a book, completely oblivious to what was happening outside. The opportunity was too good to pass up. James quietly pulled out his wand and glanced around. No one was paying any attention to him and Remus, Sirius, and Peter were passing into the next carriage. James pointed his wand into the compartment and cast a non-verbal silencing charm and a leg-locker curse, knowing it would be awhile before Snape noticed either curse and that it would cause panic and slight chaos when he tried to either move or speak.

_Now_ he would stop casting curses.

The boys finished their patrol and returned to their compartment in time to catch the trolley lady and purchase snacks, or in Sirius's case, breakfast.

When they were about an hour from Kingscross Station, they all pulled out their muggle clothes to change. They also shrunk Sirius's trunk and put it in James's in order to have a bit more room.

It was awkward with all four boys trying to change clothes at one time and having James's trunk standing in the middle of the compartment but they somehow managed, until–

"Do you guys remember where I put the cloak down?"

"What?" Sirius asked, doing up his belt.

"I put the cloak down on the seat, but I think I put it down spelled side up. I can't find it."

"Why would you put the invisibility cloak down spelled side up?" Remus asked incredulously as he sat down to put on his shoes.

"It was rather idiotic." Peter said, doing up the buttons on his sweater.

"Ya, I know. Can you just help me find it?"

The other boys sighed and started running their hands over every surface in the compartment.

There was a quiet knock on the door and James, the closest to it, pulled it open and looked down at a surprised Lily Evans.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Is Remus there?" she asked, pursing her lips.

"Well, I really don't know. I might need a little incentive to remember…" James hinted.

Lily blushed red with anger. James's grin widened and he heard Remus exclaim, "Found it!" James tuned back into the compartment and opened the door farther, hissing to Remus, "Hide it!"

"Did you want something, Lily?" Remus asked, stuffing the cloak into James's trunk.

"Um, yes." Lily said, casting a glance at James. "I was wondering if you would mind helping to bring trunks out when we stop at the platform. Amos Diggory was supposed to, but he hurt his shoulder in his Defence Against the Dark Arts Practical yesterday."

Remus glanced at James and Sirius in a slight panic, not sure of how to answer. James looked at Sirius, who gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

"Sure." Remus said, still looking worriedly at Sirius.

Lily nodded and left, pulling the door closed behind her.

"So, I guess we need to change the plan then." Remus said.

**.o.O.o.**

"Ready?" James asked as the train pulled into King's Cross, glancing over at Sirius and Peter. They nodded. Two seconds later, Sirius was slipping out of the compartment, safely hidden under the cloak, and carrying a squirming brown rat in his hands.

James watched the crowd anxiously, waiting for the right moment to leave the compartment. He barely noticed Remus leave to help the first and second year students. He kept his eyes peeled, searching for both Pippin and Peter. James hoped that Pippin would play along. He had explained everything in the letter, but the parlor maid could be contrary when she wanted to be. Pippin knew that James didn't have a–

"Oh, hell!" James muttered as he spotted Pippin standing not too far from Mr. and Mrs. Black. They had Kreature standing next to them.

"James, here." James glanced in surprise, not even realizing that Peter had made it back with the cloak already. James took it and shoved it quickly into his trunk. He and Peter pulled their trunks onto the Platform.

James walked halfway to Pippin before stopping, putting his fingers in his mouth and letting out a piercing whistle. "Snuffles, come here boy!" he called.

Right on cue, a huge black dog bounded happily out of a dark corner of the station and made a beeline for James. Some of the younger children on the Platform cried out happily at the sight of Sirius.

When Sirius reached James, he put his two huge forepaws on James's shoulders, knocking him to the ground with his weight, and, playing his part to the end, began to lick James's face happily.

"Oi, get off, you mangy mutt!" James said affectionately, pushing Sirius off and wiping slobber off his glasses. He stood up and took hold of his trunk and pulled it towards Pippin. James also put a hand in Sirius's fur, ready to pull him back if need be. He didn't know how Sirius would react when he saw his parents.

"There you are Snuffles. I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Potter, I was unaware that the leashing charm hadn't taken effect."

James smiled in relief as he realized that Pippin was playing along. "That's alright. Let's go before–"

Sirius, finally having caught sight of his parents, drew his lips back from his teeth, growled menacingly, and started towards them. James lunged and grabbed Sirius around the neck. Pippin held his arm with one hand and grabbed his suitcase with the other, and the all dissapparated with a pop!

**.o.O.o.**

Lily pushed through the crowed, through the barrier and out onto Platform Ten.

"Lily!" a voice called. She whipped her head around and saw Rory Capers, her childhood crush and oldest friend, waving at her as he walked towards her.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked as she began to walk towards him.

"Coming to get you. Where's the Slimy One?"

"Severus and I don't talk anymore. He's finding his own way home."

"He's finding his own way back to Cokeworth?" Rory asked incredulously. "It's two hours away! What's he gonna do, take the bus?"

"I don't know, but we are _not_ giving him a ride."

"Oh, it was that kind of falling out!"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Lily asked, smiling a bit.

"So, how much do you hate him on a scale of One to Potter?" Lily smiled at the joke. It had started when she had complained about Potter the entire summer between first and second year. Rory had had to put up with the complaints and half told stories. He didn't know about magic and thought that Hogwarts was a boarding school in Switzerland for brainiacs.

"Probably around torturing puppies for fun." Lily replied.

Rory winced. "I don't even want to know what he did to make you dislike him that much. Oh, here. Let me take that." He took hold of the trolley and began to push it towards the exit.

"Wait, how did _you_ get here?" Lily asked, thoroughly confused.

Rory laughed. "I drove. Since I'm sixteen, I can drive. You have to wait two more months." he teased. "Anyways, I applied for a provincial license and got it."

"But you're not allowed to drive alone without–"

"Someone over eighteen? Ya. Mum's in the car." Rory grimaced. "You know, you haven't even said hello yet."

Lily grinned. "Hello Rory, darling. Thank you for taking my trunk and for picking me up."

"You are most welcome m'dear." He cheerfully replied.

The drive back to Cokeworth did wonders for Lily's stress. As Rory joked about anything and everything, she forgot all about Hogwarts, homework, Potter and the other boys, the Slytherins, and You-Know-Who. By the time Rory pulled into her driveway, she had even forgotten that Petunia was waiting at home.

"Oh, wonderful." Petunia Evans said sarcastically when she opened the door, "You brought the freak back. Why couldn't you just leave her at the station?"

"Because I happen to rather like her, Pet." Rory replied with a grin, depositing Lily's case in the front hall. Petunia sniffed and stalked up stairs. Lily heard a door slam shut as Petunia barricaded herself in her room.

"Is that Rory I hear?" Susanna Evan's voice asked from the kitchen. "Does that mean Lily's home?"

"Yes mum." Lily called "I'm just going to put my trunk in my room."

"Oh don't be silly." Susanna said, coming into the hallway and wiping her hands on her apron. "Let the boys do that. Let me look at you." She held her daughter at arms-length and smiled, saying "You don't look as though you've aged a day." before pulling her into a tight hug.

"Is that my daughter I hear?" Garth Evans called from the living room.

"Yes dad, but I won't be around for much longer if mum chokes me to death." Lily replied. Susanna laughed and released her daughter.

"Ah, I assume you'll want me to carry that damn trunk up to your room, won't you?"

"Well since mum won't let me take it…"

"You say hello to her," Rory interjected, "I'll bring it upstairs." Garth grinned at Lily and enveloped her in a bear hug.

When Rory retuned, Susanna bustled all of them into the kitchen and called, "Set the table, Lily darling, won't you?" Lily grimaced and Rory laughed.

"Boy," Garth called, "Where's that mother of yours got to? I never saw her come in."

"She's already left."

"What do you mean, already left?" Lily asked. "How are you getting home?"

"I'm spending the summer hols here. Didn't you parents tell you?"

"No." Lily glared at her mother over her shoulder. Susanna ignored her. "They neglected to mention it."

"Well, I am. I didn't see you last Christmas and now I want to spend some time with my girl."

"Since when am I your girl?" Lily protested, laughing.

"Since you decided it was alright to steal my trucks in pre-school." Rory shot back.

"You're ridiculous!"

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I would love it if you took one second and reviewed. You can write one word or one hundred, I just like hearing what you think!**

**Tapi**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, I **_**wish**_** I was Jo, but I'm not…**

**.o.O.o.**

_September, 1975_

**Chapter 6**

"Do you really think you'll be able to resist?" Sirius asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

James glared at him. "Yes. Now shut up before I hex you."

Sirius just grinned.

"Personally, I'm with Sirius. You won't hold out."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Remus."

Peter just giggled as the four boys stopped in front of the barrier to Platform 9¾. "I'll go first." he said, and took off towards the barrier. Sirius ran after him, followed by Remus and finally James sped through the wall and onto the bustling Platform.

They were enveloped in the sounds of owls hooting, joyful reunions, and tearful goodbyes. The boys pushed their way through the crowds and finally made it to the train. Quickly stowing their trunks and owls into an empty compartment, they returned to the platform to begin Evans-Searching.

"… the castle, we'll have to wrestle a grindylow! I don't even know what a grindylow is! What if …"

"… and then of course I said, 'To hell with it!' and I grabbed him and shoved him onto the bed …"

"… Do you think Black'll ever ask me out?"

"Who cares about Black? Potter is _fine_! What I wouldn't give …"

"… potions essay was brutal!"

"Not really. It was all in the text book." James's head whipped around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"God, you're like a starving dog that's scented a squirrel." Sirius muttered under his breath.

"You would know." James shot back still searching the platform. Sirius grinned.

"There." Peter said, pointing.

James followed his finger to see the gorgeous red head laughing with her friends as they pulled open the door to a compartment. Alice heaved her trunk onto the train, then spotting Frank, promptly ditched the other two girls and ran over to greet her boyfriend.

"Hey, whatever happened to Chicks before Dicks?" Mary called after her.

"Sod off!" Alice yelled back before gluing her face to Frank's.

"Get a room!" Lily called laughing. She tried to haul her trunk up and couldn't quite, so James ran over and lifted it up from the bottom. "Thanks," she pushed her hair out of her eyes and froze. "_Potter_."

James smiled. "You're welcome _Evans_." Lily scowled. "Did you have a good summer?"

"Yes." She replied tentatively, as though it were some trick question.

"Good to hear. I'll see you at the Welcome Feast then." and then he walked away. As soon as they were out of earshot, Sirius let out a whoop.

"Wow! You didn't ask her out! I am astonished!"

"Yes, Sirius, I am aware of your lack of faith in me." James grinned, shoving Sirius jokingly. "Come on, let's go back to the compartment. We still need to finalize the prank." As they walked through the crowd, James glanced back at the red head, staring after him with a confused look on her face.

"Sirius Black!"

The four boys flinched as the piercing voice shrieked through the air.

"Damn. Damn, damn, damn! Almost made it!" Sirius muttered.

The boys turned slowly around to see the frightening sight of Mrs. Black trailed by her son, Regulus, and her husband, stalking through the crowds of people towards them, an expression of icy furry blazing on her features.

"Hello, Father, Brother," Sirius grimaced before adding, "Mother."

"Where _have _you been?"

Sirius paled slightly, but raised his chin and answered defiantly, "With the Potters."

"_With the Potters_." Mrs. Black said in a dangerously calm and quite voice. "So you simply decided to run off and stay with the _Potters_," She glanced at James as though he was something slimy from under her shoe, "For _the duration of the summer_ without so much as a _by your leave?_" Sirius gulped almost imperceptibly.

James put his hand on Sirius's shoulder and squeezed slightly. Sirius gave him a small, grateful smile. Remus moved into Sirius's other side and Peter, though nervous, stood just behind the space between Remus and Sirius's heads.

"Do you have any idea how mortifying it was to wait here for hours for you to show up?" James glanced around. People were starting to stare, wondering what was going on.

"And," added Mr. Black, "did you even stop to think how your continued absence affected your mother's health?"

Sirius muttered something under his breath that even James couldn't hear.

"Speak up, boy!" Mr. Black snapped.

"Mother is a cold heartless bitch who couldn't give a damn." Sirius proclaimed in a loud, bored drawl, but James could see from his stance that he was nervous.

The three Blacks stared Sirius in shock as a hush fell over the Platform. Now everyone was watching the scene and somehow, a space had been cleared around the Marauders and the Blacks. James's hand strayed to his back pocket where his wand was. He saw Remus and Peter also prepare to draw their wands.

"I _beg_ your pardon?" Mrs. Black asked in a barely audible, dangerously quiet whisper.

This time Sirius faced his mother completely, stared her in the eye, and said, "You are a cold and heartless bitch. You never gave a damn about me or Reg, and you never will."

Regulus had his wand out in an instant, pointing it in Sirius's face. Just as quickly, James, Remus and Peter had their wands out, each pointing at a different Black, although Peter's wand trembled slightly. Sirius's body was tense with nerves, but his mouth was twisted into a smirk.

"Take that back." Regulus hissed.

"Why should I? It's the _truth_."

"It is not. Take it back."

"Make me." Sirius sneered, eyes narrowed.

Regulus's eyes widened with fury. He opened his mouth to utter a spell–

James heard an extremely quiet "_S-Stupefy_." and Regulus fell to the ground as the red bolt shot out of the end of Peter's trembling wand.

As soon as Peter's spell had been cast, Mr. and Mrs. Black both drew their wands. Sirius whipped his own out just in time to deflect the spell that his father sent at him.

Soon, Sirius and James were fighting off Mrs. Black as Remus and Peter took on Mr. Black. Some of the bystanders drew their wands, but were reluctant to jump in due to the speed at which the spells were being cast.

"_Morsmorde!_" Someone yelled from the edges of the crowd, and the Dark Mark bloomed into existence above the throng. People screamed as Death Eaters began to pop into existence. What had begun as a moment of defiance quickly turned into a full-fledged attack on the Hogwarts-bound populace.

Soon spells were shooting everywhere. Parents threw screeching children into the relative train and formed a line in between it and the advancing Death Eaters.

James wiped sweat from his eyes as he desperately cast another spell at Sirius's mother. They needed to get on the train soon. It was trying to get out so that the students on it would be safe.

He ducked as a spell he suspected to be a Cruciatus Curse flew over his head. The piercing scream that echoed over the Platform as the spell hit an unsuspecting wizard confirmed his suspicion.

James quickly started a rapid fire series of silent hexes and jinxes to give Sirius a bit of a break.

Getting desperate, James resorted to one of his least favorite charms, praying that the made up nature of the curse might get past Franciena's shield. He flicked his wand and thought _Sectumsempra_ as hard as he could.

Mrs. Black was thrown backwards and a huge gash appeared across her chest and abdominal.

As soon as Sirius noticed his mother was down, he flicked a quick _Stupefy_ at his father and then sent _Episkey_ at his mother. The cut closed before any more blood was lost.

"Come on!" yelled James as he grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him to the train. Sirius and Remus followed right behind him, pushing and shoving through the crowd.

"Over here!" a familiar voice yelled over the crowed. James looked towards it, and his heart gave a lurch as he saw the red head pulling Alice Payne and Frank Longbottom up into her compartment.

"Shit, she's gonna close the door." James said, loud enough for the other boys to hear.

"Who?" Sirius gasped out.

James pointed.

"LILY!" Remus yelled, "HOLD THE DOOR!"

Lily started. Scanning the multitudes and squinting through the spells flying everywhere, she finally caught sight of them and her eyes widened a little.

"DUCK!" she screamed.

Startled, James dropped just as Killing Curse sored over his head and exploded into the ceiling, sending pieces of stone raining down on the heaving masses. People screamed as the stones struck home.

James hissed as searing pain shot through the wrist that he had landed on. Something hit his head and he felt something warm trickle through his hair. His ankle ached dully.

His glasses had fallen when he dropped to the ground. He frantically felt around, trying to find them.

"Get up and help me with Remus!" Sirius said desperately. James, abandoning the search as hopeless, stood and stumbled to where Sirius's voice had come from. Sirius help him get under Remus's other arm.

"Where's Peter?" Remus gasped.

James felt something on his leg and looked down to something brown clawing its way up his pant leg. Squinting, it looked like it might be a rat. James smiled weakly and lifted Peter to his shoulder.

"I've got him. Let's go."

Pushing past the last few people, the boys made it past the line of parents and to Lily's compartment.

"Thanks." James panted two people lifted Remus into the compartment.

Someone reached down a hand and pulled James up as another person pulled up Sirius.

They were just in time. The train lurched into motion, pulling away from the platform and quickly gaining speed.

"Wait, where's Peter?" A girl who sounded a bit like Lily asked desperately.

"I saw him get into another compartment." James muttered.

"Oh." The girl sounded as though the news was unpleasant, but expected.

James blinked as the fuzzy compartment swam around him.

"Bloody hell." he breathed, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed onto the floor.

**.o.O.o.**

As Potter fell, Lily instinctively reached out to catch him. The rat that had been sitting on his shoulder jumped down and ran out into the hall and disappeared. Two seconds later, Peter stumbled into the compartment.

Lily grunted as she caught Potter's full weight. Glancing around, she noticed that Black, Remus and Peter weren't in very good shape either. All three of them had sustained minor injuries as well as some major ones. The three boys were in a state of shock, staring at Potter blankly. Assessing damage, she took control of the situation.

"Frank, help me lift Potter onto the seat. Mary, make them sit down," she nodded to the boys, "and do what you can to staunch the bleeding. Alice, see if there is anyone with any knowledge of Healing spells. Shit, their dropping like flies!" the train had lurched again, and this time, Black went down.

Frank seized Potter's legs, and they quickly lifted him onto one of the seats. As Lily released his shoulders, Potter's head to fell to one side and Lily gasped in dismay. A piece of stone must have hit the side of his head. The whole left side was matted with blood still oozing out a gash.

Glancing the rest of him over quickly, she noticed that his right wrist looked broken, and one of his ankles was swollen. She looked the other boys to assess the damage.

Black had a gash on his forehead and a cut on his chest was bleeding profusely. Two of the fingers on his left hand were swollen to twice their normal size.

Peter had only sustained minor cuts and bruises, and a broken nose.

Remus's leg though was in bad condition. It was hopelessly mangled, shards of bone sticking out through the leg of his pants. Lily was surprised that he was still conscious.

Just as that thought flickered through her mind, Remus's eyes rolled back into his head and he went under.

"Shit." Lily said. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, sh–"

"Stop swearing. It's unladylike." Andromeda Tonks said as she swept into the compartment, followed closely by Alice. "But if you must swear, at least vary it up."

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 7**

Andromeda wasted no time. She swiftly knelt beside Remus and, drawing her wand, cut his pant leg free. Hissing in sympathy, she waved her wand once more, levitating Black onto the seat next to Potter and lying Remus straight out.

It was all Lily could do to mutter, "But … You graduated … Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I knew people would need medical attention. I was on the Platform because I knew that there was a good chance that my cousin would need help. The entire wizarding world has been buzzing with the news that another Black was disowned."

"Another?"

Andromeda smiled slightly. "I was the first. Are you going to stand there in shock all day, or can you be useful?"

"I'll help." Lily replied promptly, drawing her wand. "What should I do?"

"Do you know _Episkey_ and _Tergeo_?" Lily nodded. "Good. Give me one second. I'll examine the Sirius and James and then get you to work. In the meantime, fix Peter's nose."

Lily nodded and set to work. It didn't really take long. She had Peter's nose done in a minute, so she used _Episkey_ on his other cuts and cleaned him up as best she could.

"Thanks." Peter said with a weak smile.

"No problem. And don't worry; I don't think the boys will blame you for running from that fight. Most people would have." Lily said kindly.

Peter blinked. "But–"

"Okay Lily, you can just heal all of Sirius's cuts but there's some shrapnel stuck in the cut on James's head. You'll need to carefully extract those with a magnet charm. Don't seal it up yet though, I want to look more at his skull. It doesn't feel quite right."

"Okay. Should I leave Bl– Sirius's fingers alone, or are they okay to be fixed?"

"Fix them." Andromeda said before turning her full attention to Remus.

Lily took a little longer on Black because the blood clots that covered his upper body obscured her view of the injury. She ended up using _Tergeo_ first to get rid of the blood everywhere and then used a slicing charm on the seams of his shirt. After removing the top of it, she used various charms to clean the loose threads and dirt out of the gash and to disinfect it healing it with _Episkey_. After that, it took her barely anytime to heal his fingers and scrapes.

Black woke up just as she finished. Groaning, he sat up and looked around.

"Annie?" he asked confusedly.

"Yes, Sirius." Andromeda replied with a wry smile. She never took her eyes off Remus's leg as the spells she was casting took effect. "As bright as ever I see."

"What happened? Why are you here?"

"I'm here because you were an idiot and gave You-Know-Who an excuse to attack a platform full of Hogwarts-bound students."

"The Order?"

"Yes. I came on the train with a few others to help take care of the more seriously injured students and prevent them from dying of blood loss. On that note, since you're up, go see if anyone in another compartment needs help. If they do, help them."

"Fine." Black said and stumbled out of the compartment and along into the corridor.

"He forgot his wand." Andromeda sighed. "Will you bring it to him Lily?"

Lily grabbed the wand off the floor where it had fallen and went out into the hall. She checked a few compartments before she found Black. He was just coming out of the compartment.

"Forgot your wand?" Lily asked, holding it out.

"Thanks Evans." Black said with a small smile. "And thanks for helping us. Back at the platform and just now. I know we're not your favorite group of people, and it was really decent of you."

Lily gave him a smile in return, and then went back to Andromeda.

She looked up when Lily entered. Peter was sitting, holding Remus's head. Remus was awake and in pure agony, by the looks of it.

"Lily, can you do pain-relieving charms?" Lily nodded. "Then do that on Remus while I finish with his leg."

Lily brought her wand out and, watching Remus's expressions to judge how strong it needed to be, cast the spell. She saw his relief almost immediately, but he still looked pained so she strengthened it until he just looked uncomfortable and 'bound' the spell to him.

She went over to Potter, who was still unconscious. He looked so helpless, lying there, without his glasses and blood covering one side of his head. And he was pale, so pale. So pale, in fact, that he may as well have been dead. Lily felt a little, panicked, lurch when the thought crossed her mind.

"Done." Andromeda said, as she stood and went over to kneel beside Potter's head. She murmured a spell and stared at him with glazed eyes for a moment. Then she blinked and stood saying, "He only has a minor concussion, nothing serious. You're fine to just heal up the skin as soon as all the gunk is out. Do you mind staying with him and Remus until they get settled into the Hospital Wing, though? " Lily nodded, and then Andromeda left to go look after more students.

Lily checked her watch. They had been traveling for two hours. Two more to go. Lily sighed and knelt beside Potter head. In minutes, she was completely engrossed in her work.

When she finally looked up an hour later, his head had been seamlessly healed. Lily had even managed to re-grow the hair that she had needed to remove in order to see the cut itself.

Lily stood and stretched, her back and knees cracking and complaining. Rolling her neck she looked around. The compartment was still empty except for her and the two boys, and the hallway was devoid of students as well. Sometime in the hour that Lily hadn't been paying attention, Remus had once more fallen asleep.

Lily smiled slightly and walked over to him. He looked so peaceful, lying there with his head tilted to one side. He usually looked so stressed and anxious, unless he was with Black and Potter.

Lily reached out her hand and smoothed Remus's hair back from his face in a motherly gesture. That's when she noticed the scar's on Remus's neck. It almost looked as though something had bitten him. Subconsciously, Lily leaned forwards to get a better look.

Potter groaned on the other bench. Lily stood up and went to him. She still had more work to do if she wanted to get him back to his normal condition.

At some point in the last hour he had transferred from an unconscious state to a sleeping state. He slept soundly as she fixed his ankle and his cuts and scrapes, but as she moved his wrist slightly, he woke up, gasping from the pain.

"Just breath, I'll be done in a moment." Lily said through gritted teeth. She hated to cause people pain, even if it was only Potter. He nodded weakly and his jaw tensed as she pulled out her wand.

Wrists were more complicated to heal than noses because of the joints, and Lily didn't want to make a mistake, so she just lowered the swelling and, pulling her earrings out, Transfigured them into a splint. She took off a sock and transfigured it into a bandage, and splinted his wrist strait. Then she used the same Pain-Relieving Charm that she had used before. She transfigured her other sock into a sling and, after helping Potter to sit up, she secured his arm so that he wouldn't move it.

As she finished tying the sling in place, Potter's expression clouded with confusion.

"Why don't you just heal it? I can take the pain, I've had worse."

"Because I don't know enough healing to know that I wouldn't be accidently preventing you from ever moving that wrist again."

Potter frowned again, and reached out his hand as though to touch her face. Alarmed, Lily scrambled back and out of reach.

"What do you think you're doing Potter?"

"He's trying to figure out who you are." Remus had woken up again and was watching them.

"Remus?" Potter asked, sounding relieved. He was turning his head, looking around as though he couldn't see anything. Surely his eyesight wasn't that bad.

"Yes James, I'm here. That blob that you just tried to touch is Lily."

"Oh, that's why she went out of reach. Sorry, Evans." Potter was smiling slightly and staring straight ahead, barely blinking.

"Can't you see without your glasses?" Lily asked.

"No. I'm legally blind without them."

"Oh. Do you have a spare?"

"Of course." Potter scoffed, "How stupid do you think I am?"

"Well, if you tell me where they are, I can get them for you."

"There back at the Manor."

"Why would you keep them there?"

"Because there were so many spells on the pair I kept with me that it should have been impossible for me to lose them or for them to get broken or scratched. They shouldn't have even been able to fall off, so I have no idea how that happened on the Platform. There was no need for me to carry an extra pair with me and, if I really needed the other pair, I just had to send an owl and ask Mother or Pippin to send them to me."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Who the hell was Pippin? Lily didn't know why it should bother her to not know, but it did.

"Well, is there anything I can do to help you?"

Potter winced as the train jostled his arm. "Can you get Sirius?"

"James, Sirius is probably dealing with internal bleeding or something." Remus said, "I don't think that you being a bit uncomfortable justifies bringing him away from students in critical condition."

"Of course it does!" James scoffed, "This is all his fault isn't it?" Remus grinned, shaking his head. "Don't you shake your head at me, Remy, old boy."

"I though you couldn't see."

"I can't. I just know you that well."

"That's a frightening thought."

"Isn't it? You really ought to hang out with people who are better influences on you."

Remus suddenly became serious. Neither boy was paying attention to Lily anymore.

"You aren't a bad influence James. In fact, I would even say that you're as good an influence as Dumbledore."

"Really?" The boys weren't joking anymore.

"Honestly. Just look at what you and Sirius do every time I have … that little problem. Half the time, you end up worse off than me, but you do it every time anyways and you even manage to make me not feel guilty."

"It's only what any other friend would do."

"No, any other friend would drop me and my problem off a cliff, and be done with it. You try to make it bearable and enjoyable."

"What problem?" Lily asked, unable to contain her curiosity. Potter froze.

"Bloody hell Remus, you brought that up while she was still here? How stupid are you? How stupid do you think she is? Even I don't bring it up where other people can hear! You are a complete and utter moron!" For some reason, even though Potter was yelling at him, Remus started to laugh.

"Sorry James. Look, Lily, don't tell anyone what you heard us talking about, okay?"

"But I didn't understand any of it…"

"I know. Just promise. We don't want James worrying, now do we?"

"I promise."

"Thanks Lils."

A flicker of movement drew Lily's eyes to the hallway outside the compartment. No one was there.

Lily was about to go check the hallway, when the train slowed to a halt at the Hogsmeade Station.

Almost immediately, Dumbledore's voice, magically enhanced sounded.

"All students will remain on the train. Professors will be coming to each compartment to bring students up to the castle. Those who have been hurt the worst will be brought up first along with their care takers."

Lily sat down, preparing to wait, but almost immediately Professor McGonagall opened the door to the compartment.

"Alright, Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin. We are going to levitate you out and onto stretchers. Ms. Evans, I assume that you have been taking care of them?" Lily nodded. "Then you will accompany them to the castle."

Professor Flitwick appeared beside McGonagall, two stretchers floating behind him. Lily stood near the door to make sure that the two injured boys didn't hit the edges of the door as the two teachers levitated the boys out of the compartment.

Both of them passed out again when they were moved.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 8**

When James woke up, he felt as though he had been trampled by a Hippogriff. He groaned and reached out, feeling around on the bedside table for his glasses. Instead, his fingers jammed into what felt like a vase, and the whole thing tipped over and crashed onto the floor.

"Bloody hell!" James said, sitting bolt upright. He immediately regretted it as his head exploded in pain.

Gasping, he fumbled around on the table, more cautiously this time, but it was now empty.

"Stop moving so much." a voice said to his left. James whipped his head around and the headache doubled. "I told you not to move." the voice admonished. He felt a wand touch his forehead and the headache evaporated.

"Thanks." James said gratefully. "I don't suppose you know what happened to my glasses?" He heard the person rifle through some papers at the foot of his bed.

"This says you might have some memory loss. Hang on a sec. Your glasses got lost on the platform." the voice said triumphantly. "Do you need anything?"

"Some water would be nice. Where am I anyways?"

"The Hospital Wing. The sheet says you had a concussion, and that you're to stay here until the headaches and nausea are gone. If you have serious memory loss, you'll have to wait until it all comes back, I'm afraid. I'll be back in a second with your water." James heard footsteps receding.

Sitting back on his pillows, James tried to recall what had happened on the platform. It was all fuzzy. He vaguely remembered the fight, and getting on the train, but after that, everything was black.

He heard the girl come back and she pressed a cup into his hands.

"Thanks. Who are you anyway?"

"Marlene McKinnon."

James almost spat out his mouthful of water. "I beg your pardon?" he spluttered. The girl laughed.

"Marlene McKinnon. Ravenclaw prefect. Sixth year."

"I know who you are. What are you doing here?" James asked.

Marlene was considered to be The One. She was gorgeous, nice, smart, funny … perfect, and unreachable. She was the female Sirius without the man-whore part. She rarely dated and when she did, it was usually a random fling. Everyone had a crush on Marlene, even James. It was impossible not to.

"My parents are Medi-personnel so I have some knowledge of first aid which Mme. Grafton is exploiting." Marlene replied. She paused and James felt the bed give a little under her weight as she sat and took his hand. "Look, there's something that I really wanted to talk to you about."

**.o.O.o.**

"I really don't know, Marlene." James sighed, "I think I should wait and see how things go with Lily first. I have my own plan to move things along this year. And I don't know if it's a good idea for you to hide behind me rather than actually dealing with the fact."

"James, please. I really need the space and I think that it could help you to. Help you a lot, actually." Marlene said.

"Marlene–" he began warningly.

"Marlene?" James frowned at the new voice. It was hauntingly familiar. "What are you still doing here?"

"I was just talking to James."

"Oh. Well I think you had better go now."

"Excuse me?" Marlene asked, sounding surprised and offended. James frowned in confusion.

"It's almost curfew, Marlene." Lily's voice said reasonably. "You might be a prefect, but you can still get in trouble with Filch if you're out after curfew when you're not patrolling. You know that. They're sending most of the students to their common rooms."

"I'll leave when you leave."

"I'm on the night shift."

"Oh." Marlene sighed. "Well, I guess I'll say goodnight then." James felt her lean over. Her breath tickled his cheek as she whispered, "Think about my suggestion." and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek before leaving. James heard the Lily sigh.

"Do you anything?"

"Could you help me get the pillows flat? It's kinda hard to do without triggering a headache." The spell Marlene had used to relieve his symptoms was wearing off.

"Sure. And I'll bring you some Calming Draught in the morning. That should help with the headache."

"Thanks, Evans." James replied, sitting up further to allow the her better access to his pillows. The fuzzy images around him swam as he moved.

"I thought you couldn't see." she said.

"I can't." He said, feeling a crooked smile form. "I just know you're voice extremely well. Although, it does sound radically different when it isn't yelling obscenities at me." Lily snort in amusement. "If you don't mind my asking, why are here helping me? Not that I don't appreciate it," he added hurriedly, "Because I really do, but I was always under the impression that you really didn't like me … And here you are, helping me … Evans?" James asked, becoming slightly panicked at her continued silence, "Are you still here?"

"Yes, Potter, I am."

"Oh. Good." James said in a very relieved voice.

"I'm helping, I guess, because I wouldn't feel right leaving you and Remus here alone until you're both better."

"How is Remus?"

"He's doing alright. Andromeda, I mean, Mrs. Tonks, did a pretty good job fixing his leg but–"

"Wait, what was wrong with his leg?" James asked, alarmed.

"Uh, well, do you remember when a spell exploded against the ceiling of the Platform and chunks of stone came down?"

"Vaguely…"

"Well a chunk of stone came down and crushed his leg. It was a mess of bone and blood, but somehow, Mrs. Tonks managed to put it all back into place. The only thing is, there's a patch of nerves they're having difficulty fixing. They think that the nerves have gotten too messed up to be healed."

"So what? He won't be able to feel on a portion of his leg, it's not that big a deal." James said, as insensitive as he always became when he was anxious.

"It's more than that. Because of where those nerves were, it will affect Remus's walking. He'll always walk with a limp and he may need a cane for the rest of his life as well."

James's eyes widened in shock. Why? Why the hell did these things always happen to Remus? Wasn't it bad enough that he had Lycanthropy and was disfigured by numerous scars that he covered every morning with glamour spells? Did Merlin really have to give him a handicap as well?

"Is Remus awake?" James asked quietly.

"No. It's the middle of the night. No one's awake." Lily said tentatively.

"Have Sirius or Peter been to see him?"

"Yes, but Remus just ignores them and stares out the window. He hasn't talked since McGonagall told him the news."

"Can you help me go to him?"

"Potter, I really don't think that you should be walking around. Are you forgetting you're headache? It's going to be so much worse if you try to stand."

"Evans, I am going to go and see Remus, whether or not you help me. If you don't, I will most likely bash my head again and probably break a few limbs as well. I only asked you to help because I don't want to be stuck here any longer than necessary and neither do you. Now, are you going to help me, or not?"

"Fine," Lily said, "just let me put a chair beside Remus."

James heard her walk away to the left. She was back in about five minutes.

Lily touched his shoulder and said, "Step onto the floor carefully. I don't know how strong your legs are and we don't want you falling. We also need to go as quickly as possible before Madame Grafton or her knew assistant see you and order you back to bed."

James nodded and, with her supporting his left side, carefully stood up. His legs almost gave out, but he locked his knees, refusing to let them collapse.

It took the two of them almost ten minutes to walk to Remus's bed side. Lily helped James maneuver to the chair, and he sank into it gratefully.

"How's your head?" Lily asked, sounding a little concerned.

"It's okay." He actually had a splitting headache, but he wasn't about to admit that. "Actually, Evans, could I ask you to do me a favour?"

"Depends on what the favour is." Lily replied warily.

"Could you write to my mother and ask her to send me my glasses?"

"Oh. I hope you don't mind, but I wrote this morning."

"Oh, good." James said, relieved. "Could you bring them to me when they get here?"

"Sure."

"Thanks Evans. Do you mind leaving me and Remus alone?"

"Sure. Just don't wake him up."

"I won't."

James heard Lily leave and he heard gentle scrapping as she moved the divider into place around the bed. James spent the night dozing in the chair. At some point, Lily returned and pressed his glasses and a note into his hands. James thanked her and put them on, and read the note.

_Dear Jamie,_

_Miss Evans wrote me detailing what occurred on the platform and the injuries that you received. Please be careful, dear, and don't take any unnecessary risks. A concussion, even if it is only a minor one, is a serious injury._

_Please convey all of our concern to Remus. If there is anything that we can do to help him we will do it immediately and without hesitation._

_I would also greatly appreciate if you would inform Sirius that we will support him whole heartedly and that he will always have a home with us._

_Please convey my love and well wishes to Remus, Sirius and Peter._

_Get well soon and stay safe,_

_Love, Mum_

_PS. Your father and I have decided to accept Dumbledore's offer, and would like to impress on you that, although the decision will ultimately be up to you, we would prefer if you declined. We do not believe that you have enough defense knowledge to not be killed in battle. But the decision is yours, and we will support and love you no matter what._

James reread the post script, thinking back to the summer when Dumbledore had visited Potter manor and offered memberships in the Order of the Phoenix to all four boys and his parents.

None of the boys had answered Dumbledore yet. They were supposed to meet him in his office someday soon and discuss it in more detail, but they were all planning on accepting, even Peter.

James couldn't help wondering if Remus would decline now that his leg had been messed up.

Remus's eyes fluttered open, as though he could tell that James had been thinking about him. He looked at James briefly, and then turned on his side, away from James.

"Come on, Moony, don't do that." Remus ignored him. "I can get us privacy, if you would prefer … Look, I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me."

James had to strain to hear Remus's quiet, "Fine, in privacy."

James carefully stood and shuffled his way over to the gap in the screen. Poking his head through, he glanced down the hall, to see Lily sitting on his now empty bed.

"Hey, Evans." James called softly. She looked up and came over quietly.

"You shouldn't be standing on your own." She admonished in a whisper as soon as she was within earshot.

James grinned. "I'll sit down just as soon as you find Sirius."

"Why do you want Sirius?"

"Because I need him to do something."

"What do you need him to do?"

"Nothing destructive, dangerous, disruptive, or anything else starting with a D."

Lily almost smiled. "Fine. I must be going mental, but … Just sit down, and I'll be back in a minute."

"Thanks Evans." James said before gratefully sinking back into his chair. Five minutes later, Sirius poked his head through the screen.

"It's good to see you walking around. Now if we can only get Mooney to talk." Sirius glared pointedly at the lump on the bed.

"I already have. He's said three words to me."

"My hat's off to you, my good sir." Sirius said with a mocking half bow. "I am at your service. What do you need?"

"Your wand."

"How about your wand?" Sirius asked, and pulled out two wands from a fold in his robes.

"That works." James accepted his and Remus's wands.

James flicked his wand, casting a spell to keep them from being disturbed and casting a quick _Muffliato_. He sat down in his chair again, and waited for Remus to turn to face him. Sirius leaned against one of the bed posts.

Remus turned over to face James after a few seconds. James gave him a small, sad smile and passed him his wand.

Remus sat up slowly and took it. The three boys sat in silence for a few minutes, before Remus broke the silence.

"Can you get me out of here? I want to go to the Shack."

James grinned at Sirius mischievously.

"Just wait here. I'll be back in a second." Sirius said, and slipped through the gap in the screen. He came back ten minutes later, carrying James's silvery invisibility cloak, and the Marauder's Map, Peter scurrying behind him.

"Right," Sirius said as soon as the four boys were safely hidden behind the screen, "Any idea's how we're getting Moons out?"

Remus, as always, had a plan of attack. "Prongs can carry me out. We'll go under the cloak and Paddy and Wormtail can make sure that people don't bump into us."

"That'll work." Sirius said.

Knowing that he would regret it in a few hours, James stood up and placed himself beside Remus's bed, facing the gap in the screen. He took a deep breath and released it, easing into the transformation.

His body started tingling, as though his limbs were falling asleep. His spine lengthened and grew as his legs and arms stretched and changed. His face moulded and lengthened and grew heavy as his antlers formed.

When it was done, James shook his head, adjusting to the new weight of his antlers. He turned his head and stared at Remus with one hazel eye, mentally asking, _Good enough for you?_

Remus smiled and pushed himself to the edge of the bed as James knelt beside him. Sirius helped Remus to climb onto James's back, passed Remus the Map, and then swung the cloak over the two of them. James stood up tentatively, trying to prevent Remus from falling off. Remus placed his arms around James's neck to keep his balance.

"Are you two ready to go Moony?"

"Yes."

"Good. Wormtail, you take their left, I'll take their right. We'll go slowly. Anyone we need to watch out for?"

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_ … Nobody's up, everyone's still in their common rooms. Oh, except Lily. She's pacing among the beds."

"Alright then, let's go." Sirius waved his wand quickly and removed the spells around the bed and pushed the screen open wide enough for James to pass through without difficulty.

They passed along the rows of beds towards the beg doors leading out of the wing. James's eyes tracked Lily as she paced around the bed had vacated earlier. She glared at Sirius and Peter as the four of them passed by, but Sirius just gave her a bland smile and a head nod before picking up his pace a bit and opening the double doors leading to the rest of the castle.

The four Marauders made it safely down the hallway to the staircase without incident. It was a bit more difficult maneuvering down the stairs without Remus falling, but they managed it without too much difficulty. Before long, they had made it out of the castle and across the grounds to the Whomiping Willow. Peter transformed and scurried under the whipping branches and pressed the knot on the tree to freeze it.

Sirius help Remus to get down, and James transformed back into himself. He and Sirius half carried Remus under the frozen branches and helped him to slide down into the tunnel.

"Do you mind if James and I go on alone?" Remus asked quietly, "You can watch for us to come back on the map. You'll need to cover up our absence anyhow."

"All right." Sirius said, and turned back to the castle.

"Be careful." Peter warned and ran after him.

Remus pulled two of the sticks that had fallen into the passage towards him and transfigured them into arm crutches. Together the two boys made their way up to the shack. Before long, Remus was sweating from the effort, but he didn't ask for help and James didn't offer it, knowing that Remus would only see it as pity instead of concern.

James pushed open the trap door and helped Remus into the shack and up to the bedroom where the transformations usually took place.

"Do you mind if I just sit alone for a while?" Remus asked, sitting on the bed.

"Okay. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

"Okay."

James turned and left the room, making his way through the abandoned house and down to the decrepit kitchen. He sat at the table and, using his wand, relieved the pounding in his head and the ache in his ankle.

James had barley been sitting for five minutes before an explosion shook the beams over his head and an enraged scream tore through the house.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 9**

James was out of his chair and in the main entrance seconds. He stumbled as another explosion made the house shudder and the floor-boards buck under his feet. He scrambled up the stairs and stumbled to the master bedroom. He flung open the door and ducked only just in time to avoid being hit by the spell Remus sent flying towards him.

Remus whirled to face the window and it exploded as the jet of red light collided with the glass. Turning quickly once more, Remus sent another jet of light and the bed which blasted apart, sending feathers and wire springs everywhere.

James ducked back out into the hall to avoid getting hit by flying debris as Remus proceeded to demolish the room.

"Calm down!" James yelled over the blasts.

"I will not calm down!" _Boom!_ "Everyone always expects me to be so calm and perfect," _Boom!_ "and quiet because I'm a decent person! The expect me to take all the shit," _Boom!_ "this world sends my way and to not complain! And if I do?" _Boom!_ "They all give me that goddamn," _Boom!_ "_pity_ look, feign concern,"_ Boom!_ "and tell me how goddamn _sorry_ they are and how they wish there was _something_ they could do for me. And you know what? As soon as I ask them for _work_ or a _simple favour_, all of a sudden I'm a no good,"_ Boom!_ "stupid,"_ Boom!_ "ugly,"_ Boom!_ "out of control,"_ Boom!_ "lesser than them,"_ Boom!_ "disfigured," _Boom!_ "_half-breed_!"_ Boom!_ "All they see is a BLOODY WEREWOLF!" _BOOM!_

There was a moment of silence, and Remus whispered softly, "Why does everything bad happen to _me_?"

Cautiously looking through the doorway, James saw Remus slump to the floor, hands in his lap, and his wand falling to the floor beside him.

James made his way across the floor and tentatively sat beside his friend resting a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll help you figure this out. We'll come up with a way for you to walk again without the cane. I promise."

"What did I ever do to deserve friends like you?"

"You got landed with a shitty lot in life."

Remus smiled bitterly. "I won't argue with that."

"Do you want to go destroy more stuff? I think you finished with this room." James said, looking around at the demolished furnishings.

"I don't really think we should. I didn't mean to destroy the room, I just … lost control."

"Come on. It'll be fun." James tempted, "I bet there are some really ugly paintings and things around here. It would really be a favour to Padfoot and Wormy for us to incinerate them."

"Fine. But all the damage is your fault."

"We could also just blame it on your furry little problem."

"No. It's your fault."

"Fine." James jumped up and helped Remus to his feet. "Come on. This gonna be fun! I think I remember some particularly horrid objects up in the attic. Can you make it up there, or should I bring it all down?"

"I'll make it up there if it kills me."

"Okay, but don't die. Pad'd kill me and I'm rather enjoying life at the moment."

**.o.O.o.**

The boys spent the rest of the day incinerating, demolishing and exploding various items lying about the shrieking shack. Finally around mid-afternoon, a sliver dog loped into the attic. Sirius's patronus came to a halt in front of the two boys.

"I left you alone for as long as I could, but the professors are so panicked that they're about to call in the Ministry. You need to get back to the school now. Pete and I'll keep everyone busy and away from the Willow with the welcome back surprise, but you need to hurry. Peter will leave the Map just inside the tunnel entrance, but you're better off being seen walking, so I'm keeping the cloak. If a teacher stops you, just say that you needed exercise."

The patronus disappeared after it had delivered its message.

"I guess we should go." Remus said after a while.

"Ya." James agreed. "You gonna be okay Mooney?"

"Ya. Thanks Prongs."

"Not at all."

The two boys made their way back to the castle, going as fast as they could. James had to cast another spell too relieve his dizziness and the new headache that was forming. God, concussions were really annoying.

When they reached the tree and retrieved the Map, James motioned for Remus to rest while he checked the Map for professors. After quickly scanning the grounds, he saw that everyone was inside the castle. James couldn't help chuckling at the thought of the chaos going on inside.

James was the one who had come up with the idea for this particular prank. They had used a spell that they had created specifically for this prank, using principles from the Bubble Head charm and the Silencing Charm, they had created a spell that absorbed all noise and trapped it in a bubble.

Grinning, James crawled out of the tunnel and hit the tree knot and pulled Remus out and onto the grass.

Remus ignored James's proffered hand, and pushed himself up to standing, leaning heavily on the crutches.

"Suit yourself." James muttered and the two boys began the slow trek back up to the castle.

"So…"

"So?" James asked.

"How many people got hurt, do you think?"

"Too many. No one should have gotten hurt."

"It's sort of our fault"

"What is?"

"The fight, people getting hurt," Remus paused for a moment before saying quietly, "people getting killed."

"No, Remus. It was the Death Eaters fault."

"But–"

"Remus. We didn't make the Death Eaters show up, we didn't make them shoot spells at people. We didn't kill anyone."

Remus mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

"I did."

"You did what?" James asked confused.

"Killed someone. I'm a murder."

"What are you talking about?"

"When we were trying to get to the train. Someone grabbed my wrist, and I was desperate and scared and I wanted to get them off me, so I said the first spell that popped into my head. I used an Unforgivable. I killed him."

"Remus, you can't start feeling guilty about this. It was a battle. People died. Whatever spells you may have cast, it was done in self-defence. You are not a murder."

"Yes I am. The man who grabbed me wasn't wearing a mask. He wasn't a Death Eater."

"That doesn't mean that he wasn't on the Death Eaters side. Why else would he have tried to stop a student from getting on the train?"

"But–"

"Remus, stop. You aren't a murder. You never will be a murder. That man would have killed you without a second thought, so stop feeling guilty."

"Okay, fine."

"Good." James said, relieved that Remus had given up so easily. "Do you need help up the stairs?" They had reached the castle.

"No. I'll manage if it–"

"Kills you, yes I know. Come on then." James started up the stairs and into the Entrance Hall, and Remus made his up slowly but determinedly.

_Let's go_, James said, or tried to. Instead a bubble began forming between his lips, capturing the sound. As soon as James stopped talking, the bubble floated free and drifted slowly to the ceiling.

James and Remus looked up, grinning at the number of bubbles that had already accumulated. This was brilliant.

James motioned for Remus to wait, and quickly darted outside, selected two sharp-ish twigs and returned to Remus.

He gave one of the twigs to Remus who looked at the stick, then at him, then back at the stick.

James looked at Remus condescendingly, then said, _Pop the bubbles with the stick to release the sound. That way we can still talk._ As soon as the bubble came free, James jabbed it with his stick.

"Pop the bubbles with the stick to release the sound. That way we can still talk." It was odd to hear his own voice when he wasn't talking.

Remus grinned, talked and popped the bubble, releasing the words, "I forgot that this was what we had planned. Smart of you to think about the sticks though."

James grinned, spoke, and popped the bubble, "We had better get up to the Hospital Wing before Sirius and Peter get into more trouble."

"Lead the way!" Remus's bubble said.

Still grinning, the two boys made their way up to the Hospital Wing, laughing soundlessly at the chaos around them. The teachers, it seemed, had yet to figure out that the spell prevented you from casting anything except for a non-verbal spell.

Halfway up to the Hospital Wing, James turned around and, via bubble, asked again, "Do you need help?"

"No." was the reply.

James shrugged and continued up the stairs. He had only gone a few steps before Remus's voice stopped him.

"I changed my mind. I'm not strong enough to do this yet."

Smiling slightly, and very relieved that Remus had given in, James turned around and went back to the bottom of the steps. He placed himself on Remus's injured side, then slung his friend's arm around his shoulder, and placed his other arm around Remus's waist.

Together, the two boys made slow, but steady progress up the stairs and into the Hospital Wing.

James knocked on the door, not wanting to let go of Remus in order to open it himself.

The door was opened by Lily, who took one look at the two of them, then spoke. As soon as the bubble floated free, Remus leaned over and popped it.

"Where the hell have you two–… Oh my god, what happened? What did you do to him, Potter?"

James glared, then 'said', "For your information, _Evans_, I did nothing. Remus needed exercise, he was getting depressed stuck in bed all the time. I took him for a walk, and the stairs back up were too difficult, so I helped him."

"Why would you take him _walking_ of all things Potter? And why did you take him out of the Wing? How did you take him out of the Wing?"

"I'm not even going to answer that."

"Fine. But do you even realize the risk you were taking? He might have fallen and further injured that leg."

"Look Evans, are you going to let us in or not?"

Lily scowled at Potter, but stood aside and let them pass through the doors into the Hospital Wing.

She tried to say, _Do you need help getting Remus to his bed?_ but the noise just got trapped in another infuriating bubble. Lily glared at the thing as it drifted upwards until Potter poked it with a twig he was carrying, releasing her question into the air.

"I think I can manage." Potter's replying bubble said sarcastically.

Lily glared again. When Potter and Remus were halfway to the screen, Lily saw a bubble float up from them. Neither popped it.

Curious as to what the message inside might be, Lily pointed her wand at it and said _Accio_. Nothing happened. Frustrated, Lily thought the spell as hard as she could and was surprised when the bubble zoomed towards her and attached itself lightly to the tip of her wand.

Grinning, Lily trapped it under glass sitting on a nearby table. She had only just placed the glass over it, when a loud pop! resounded through the castle.

Lily covered her ears as all the words that had been said in the past hour were released at once. The resulting cacophony shook the castle and rattled the windows, threatening to deafen every person residing in the castle.

And then it was over, as suddenly as it had begun. Lily uncovered her ears and glanced at the glass she had used to trap the bubble she had summoned.

Lily blinked and peered more closely at the glass. She smiled slightly at the sight of the bubble, still intact and gently bobbing against the top of its prison.

Lily looked up to see Marlene approaching the two boys. "Have you thought any more about…" she asked, trailing off when she saw Lily watching.

Potter glanced over his shoulder and scowled at Lily. He turned back to Marlene, saying "Not yet."

"Okay." Marlene said, looking a little bit disappointed.

_Though a bit more about what?_ Lily wondered.

"Oh, here." Marlene put Remus's other arm around her shoulders and helped Potter to bring Remus to his bed.

The rest of the day passed quickly and in organized chaos. After Marlene helped get Remus into the bed, she went and fetched Miss Poppy, Madame Grafton's trainee. Miss Poppy then yelled at the two of them for leaving and then went and contacted the other teachers who had been searching for the boys. They arrived and lectured the boys as well.

Lily then spent hours with the two nurses and the other student volunteers, casting spell after spell, fixing bones and bruises, re-growing skin, and in general, returning Hogwarts students to their full health.

The one bonus that day, though, was Remus. His spirits were high and he was joking and laughing with Black, Potter, and Peter for hours until Potter was ordered to return to his bed, and Black and Peter were shooed out of the Hospital Wing.

Finally, Madame Grafton told Lily to leave the Wing, and go to dinner, which Lily gratefully did. As she gathered her things, she carefully slid the glass to the edge of the table and onto a book, then made her way to the nearest bathroom. It was empty.

Lily set her bag on the floor, then released the bubble and popped it with the tip of one of her quills.

"Bloody Evans. Lecturing me about risks. Who does she think she is, my mother? Lily Evans wouldn't know if something was risky if it was You-Know-Who, himself! She's never taken a risk in her life, and she never bloody will!"

Lily sat in silence for a few moments as Potter's last syllable faded into nothingness. A single tear rolled down her cheek, which she dashed away angrily. Why the hell should Potter's opinion matter to her? She didn't know why, but thinking that Potter didn't care anymore hurt. It shouldn't … but it did.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 10**

"Alright then, James, you're free to go"

"Thanks, love." James said, winking at Marlene as he smoothly stood up. He saw Lily roll her eyes. Marlene put a hand on his arm. "I still don't have an answer." he said quietly. Marlene nodded.

James met Sirius and Remus as they walked out of the Hospital Wing, and the three of them went down to the Great Hall to meet Peter.

"Did the, uh, Marauders claim credit for that prank yesterday?" James asked as he helped himself to eggs and bacon.

"Uh-huh. Lasht nigh ah dinnah." Sirius said through a mouthful of toast.

"Sirius, stop acting like a dog and chew your toast with your mouth closed."

Sirius grinned at Remus and said, "Ish no' toasht, ish shee foo'" and opened his mouth.

"Lovely." Remus grimaced as James laughed. Sirius grinned again around his mouthful of see food.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black. My office. Now."

"But I'm eating!" Sirius yelled after McGonagall, swallowing his mouthful.

"And we didn't do anything wrong!" James added.

"Now."

James groaned, stood up and practically dragged Sirius from the Great Hall.

The boys settled into their usual seats in front of McGonagall's desk. The two of them had been in the 'Trouble Chairs' often enough, that they were now as comfortable in them as they were in Gryffindor Tower.

McGonagall sat down at her desk and looked at the two boys for a moment, before asking, "Would one of you be so kind as to tell me what happened on the platform?"

"My parents went ballistic because I didn't come home this summer." Sirius said quickly.

McGonagall blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sirius didn't go home over summer break." James explained, "He stayed at the Manor with me. We didn't tell his parents."

"And, to be honest," Sirius added, "I will spend ten years in Azkaban for a murder I didn't commit before ever setting a foot back in Grimauld Place."

"Why is that, Mr. Black?"

"They tried to make him a Death Eater." James said, leaning back and crossing his arms, daring McGonagall to disbelieve him.

"That is a very serious accusation, Mr. Potter. Do you have any proof?"

"I kept the letters, if you want to see them. They don't out right say 'We're turning you into a Death Eater for your birthday!' but they don't really leave any room for doubt."

"Very well then." McGonagall said, "You will both be pleased to know that there were few fatalities and that the majority of those were Death Eaters. Now, we also need to discuss your upcoming detentions–"

"But we haven't done anything wrong! The only prank that's been pulled this year was that one that the Marauders did, and they claimed credit for it. I also don't think you have any proof that we are the Marauders–." James shot Sirius a look, warning him to shut up. Sirius caught his eye, and fell silent.

McGonagall peered at the two boys over the rims of her spectacles in a very Dumbledore-esk manner. "I was talking about the two months of detention that I assigned you at the end of last year. Although, with the way that you were carrying on, Mr. Black, one might think that you have a guilty conscience."

"He's just been feeling guilty about the whole Platform incident, Professor," James hurriedly improvised, "He's been going on about it quite a lot, actually. But, I'm sure he'll be better now that he knows that the Death Eaters took the worst of it." James kicked Sirius, prompting him.

Sirius winced. "Yea, what he said."

McGonagall pursed her lips, not sure whether or not to believe them. "I'll let it go this once, only because you both have two months detentions already lined up. Speaking of which, it has been decided that you will serve with Mr. Filch and Hagrid, assisting the two of them in looking after the castle and grounds. Your first detention is tonight. The two of you will trade off, one of you with Hagrid one night, the other with Filch, and then switch the next night. Detentions every week night from seven o'clock until ten o'clock. You may go."

James sighed as he and Sirius made their way out into the hallway and went as quickly as possible to class, which was starting in two minutes.

"Dibs on Hagrid." Sirius whispered as we slid into our seats at the back of Defence Against The Dark Arts.

"Damn." James hissed. Sirius chuckled as Professor Kettleburn came into the room. Kettleburn was onto his twentieth year teaching Defence, but his methods hadn't changed at all.

"Today they were reviewing spells that you already know." Kettleburn said, coming in. "Pair off." James and Sirius grinned at each other. Kettleburn caught their look and paled slightly. "Ah-hah, no boys. I think I'll spilt the two of you up. Mr. Potter, you can go with Mr. Snape, and–"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Professor," Lily interjected, "But that might not be the wisest pairing considering their, ah, history."

"Right you are, Miss Evans, right you are. And thank you for volunteering."

"I'm sorry?" Lily asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"Yes, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter, Miss Payne and Mr. Black." Kettleburn said before returning to the front of the class. He waved his wand, and the desks stacked themselves neatly along the walls. "Please make sure that you have plenty of room around you. You will have mock duels, using disarming spells, shield spells, stinging charms, laughing charms and the like. Well, go on!" The class bustled into activity as the students spread out in their pairs, bowed, and began to duel.

James sauntered over to where Lily was standing. Alice had abandoned her and gone with Sirius into a space near a wall. Alice was currently dancing uncontrollably under the influence of a _Tarantelegra_ hex.

"Shall we begin, Evans?" James asked raising his wand and bowing elegantly.

Lily glared pointed her wand and said, "_Expelliarmus._"

James merely flicked his wand and murmured, "_Protego._"

"_Stupefy._"

"_Protego. Aguamenti._"

James smiled sweetly at Lily as she pulled her dripping hair back from her face. She glared. "_Petrificus Totalus_."

"_Finite Incantatem. Locomotor Mortis_."

"_Protego_._ Oppugno_"

James waved his wand and transfigured the birds into lily petals. Lily scowled as she recognized them and James grinned, before saying "_Rictusempra._"

Lily hurriedly blocked it, and then sent a Bat Bogey Hex at him, followed by a Confundus Charm. James just lazily flicked his wand twice. She had sent the two charms at him to try and get a hit, but James had spent all summer dueling with the other Marauders in the back yard of the Manner. Even Peter seemed to be finding the mock duels ridiculously simple.

James and Lily sent spells back and forth all period. Lily was trying hard to land a spell on him, but James always stayed one step ahead. Finally, nearing the end of the period, James grinned wickedly.

Lily blinked, and immediately knew that she was in trouble. James started a rapid fire series of hexes and charms, naming them aloud because he wanted to create enough of a scene to draw the classes attention. It worked.

The other students stopped dueling, turning to watch James and Lily. Sirius and the other Marauders started grinning and Sirius actually began to snigger. They all knew what James was doing. They had developed this particular pattern of spells over the summer. None of the spells were fatal, but if even one landed, the person was doomed. James was going easy on Lily, casting the spells out loud.

As James started nearing the end of the pattern, he started casting every other spell non-verbally, then all of them.

It was all Lily could do to watch his wand and say "_Protego!_" over and over and over.

James grinned evilly at her, cast a quick, "_Leviocorpus_." Then the counter-charm followed by a full body bind.

Lily shrieked as she was yanked into the air, and then fell quickly to earth only to be frozen, unable to move.

Sirius and Peter were laughing hysterically and even Remus couldn't help smiling and clapping James on the shoulder in congratulations.

"Sorry, Evans." James said, grinning. Waved his wand and removed the spells, then reached down a hand and pulled Lily to standing. She noticed Severus out of the corner of her eye. He was practically white with anger as he glared at the four boys. Lily shoved Potter's hand away from her, and stood up.

"Temper, temper!" Sirius scolded, still laughing. "God, Evans, I never knew you were such a sore loser."

"That's why she never loses." Peter managed to squeak between giggles.

"Oh, stuff it you two." Remus scolded, at last managing to get hold of his grin. "You alright Evans?

Lily just glared, grabbed her bag, and left with the rest of the class. She didn't leave quite fast enough though. She still heard Professor Kettleburn say, "Very good, Mr. Potter, excellent wand work, excellent spell casting. You've been practicing I see. Well, twenty points to Gryffindor. Off to your next class now, you don't want your teacher taking away those well-earned points, do you?"

Lily shook her head in disgust as she made her way down to the dungeons for potions. The four boys were late, and she couldn't help smirking as Slughorn took forty points from Gryffindor, ten for each of them.

"Alright class, today we will be learning about Ten-Minute Potions. Who can tell me what they are? Mr. Black, you must know since you seem to not need to pay attention." Black had the decency to look away. "What about you Mr. Pettigrew? Mr. Potter?" The two looked down as well. Remus smirked. "Mr. Lupin? Since you seem to find this so entertaining, what is a Ten-Minute Potion?"

"It's a common potion that has two methods of preparation. The one that you are talking about are ones that have their full version and ones that have recipes consisting solely of shortcuts."

"Very well. Thirty points from Gryffindor."

"What?" Potter yelped. "But he got it right!"

"Yes and you three weren't paying attention. That is why I'm taking thirty not forty. Ten points from each of you." Potter glared.

"Leave it." Remus whispered. "It's pointless. He's prejudiced against us and there's nothing we can do about it."

Lily returned her attention to the front of the class to see Slughorn writing down partners on the board. She groaned as she saw him write _Potter/Evans_. She busied herself with getting her cauldron set up and finding the instructions in the text book.

"Why don't I just do the difficult stuff and you can get the ingredients?" Lily said as soon as Potter sat down next to her. He grunted in response then went to the cupboard and got everything they needed.

They spent all class making four different Ten-Minute Potions. As they were finishing the second potion, a purple paper airplane flew into the classroom and began nudging Slughorn's head. He took the airplane and unfolded it.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office please. You may take your things with you. I will give your homework to Miss Evans. Make sure it is done for next class." The boys packed up their things and left the class.

"Mr. Snape, Miss Evans, Mr. Greenbank, and Miss Fallow, since you are all partner-less, please partner with each other. Snape with Evans, and Greenbank with Fallow."

Severus slowly gathered his things and made his way over to Lily, who refused to look at him.

"Um … can we talk?" he asked.

"About what?"

"Um … last year."

"No." Lily turned back to the Pimple Popper they were making.

"Come on, Flower. You know I didn't mean it. I wish that I hadn't said anything. I wish it more than anything." Severus pleaded.

"I know Sev." Lily sighed, "But the friendship wouldn't have lasted much longer anyways."

"Don't say that." Sev said, putting a hand on her arm, "You don't know what would have happened."

"Severus, you are aiming to be a Death Eater. I am a muggle born witch who opposes everything that Death Eaters and Voldemort stand for. A friendship wouldn't have worked and you know it."

"So you've moved on?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful." Sev said sarcastically, taking out his quill and beginning to jot notes in the margins of his text book. "So you've replaced me already."

"What?" Lily asked confused.

"You've replaced me. With _Potter_."

"What are you even talking about?"

"As your best friend. I couldn't help noticing that you and Potter are getting chummy."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked cautiously.

"You don't snap at him or insult him anymore. Time was you would argue yourself blue to get out of working with him during class time, but you just accepted that he was your partner both times you two were partnered today."

"So I've grown up and I'm not stupid enough to argue with a teacher anymore. If you will remember, arguing rarely did me any good anyways."

"Except with Slughorn." Lily refused to look at Severus. "Tell me, Lily, how much do you hate him, on a scale from One to Potter?"

"Potter." Lily immediately answered. Severus scoffed, but didn't press it.

But Lily couldn't help realizing that she didn't hate Potter quite so much now that he wasn't always bugging her. He was at a level more like Loud Snoring, annoying, but bearable.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I am not JKR. James's POV and it starts as they leave to go and meet Dumbledore.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 11**

"Mr. Potter," James looked up as Slughorn called his name, reading it from a purple piece of paper, "Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office please. You may take your things with you. I will give your homework to Miss Evans. Make sure it is done for next class." Slughorn said, glaring at the four Marauders.

James regretfully gathered up his things and made his way out of the classroom with the other boys. As much as he hated potions, he never turned down an opportunity to be with Lily. He had been pleasantly surprised when she hadn't argued at them being assigned to work together.

"Why would Dumbledore want to talk to us?" Peter mused aloud.

"Hm, I wonder." Sirius said sarcastically, "Maybe it has something to do with a secret organization that we were asked to join and the fact that he said he would talk to us about it once school had started."

"Oh. I guess that could be it."

Before long they were at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Remus spoke the password and they spiraled up to the door. James knocked on the door.

"Come in." They all shuffled into the room and put their bags down by the door. "Ah, boys, very prompt. Why don't you all take a seat?" Dumbledore gestured to the six chairs sitting in front of his desk. James's parents already occupied two of them.

"Now, let's get right down to business." Dumbledore said once they were seated. "I visited you during the summer and offered you places in the Order of the Phoenix, the organization working to stop Voldemort. Barry and Theresa," he said, looking at James's parents, "you two would be doing field work, fighting battles, spying, gathering information, that sort of thing. You four," he now addressed the boys, "would mostly be working here in Hogwarts. I cannot, in good conscience, ask you to go out and fight while you are still in school, and at the moment you are underage so you can't fight. The one thing that I want you to understand before you accept or decline the offer is that you would be spying on your _classmates_. What you would be looking for are potential Death Eaters or students who have already joined the Death Eaters."

"That doesn't matter." Sirius said quickly, "I'm in no matter what, Headmaster."

"Me to." James said. He heard his mother sigh lightly, and his father looked slightly disappointed.

"We are with our sons to the end." Barry said, smiling slightly at Sirius and James. "We would be honoured to fight." Theresa nodded.

"Remus and Peter?" Dumbledore asked, "Do you have an answer yet, or would you like more time?" Peter nodded his head quickly. Dumbledore smiled, "Is that you need more time, or you would like to accept."

"I w-want to accept." Peter stammered.

"Remus?"

They were all watching him. Remus fidgeted under their stares. "Uh, can I talk to you in private? It's about how I always get sick."

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Of course. Would you all mind waiting in the hall a moment while Mr. Lupin and I talk? Thank you." Barry helped Theresa out of her chair and held the door for her as he escorted her out of the office. Peter scurried out after them, grabbing his bag and Sirius followed behind him. James hesitated at the door, looking back and then leaving the office.

**.o.O.o.**

"Sirius, stop trying to eavesdrop." Barry called. Sirius sighed, but walked away from the door to Dumbledore's office without complaint. He sat quietly on the floor across from the door, so quietly, in fact, that James started to wonder if something was wrong.

"You okay?" he asked, sliding down to sit beside his friend.

Sirius paused a moment before quietly saying, "He said 'sons'."

"Who?" James asked, confused.

"You're father, James. He said 'We are with our _sons_ to the end'. They only have one son."

"We only _had_ one son." Barry said softly.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking up at the two adults.

"We have to sons now. James and you."

"Welcome to the family, Sirius. You're an honorary Potter." Theresa smiled.

"Really? I can move in with you?" Sirius looked elated.

"Of course, you silly boy. Did you think we were going to say that you couldn't come back to the manor? After spending an entire summer with us and capturing Pippin's heart?" Theresa asked, as Sirius blushed slightly.

"Well, I wasn't really sure if I was welcome back after causing all that trouble on the platform."

"Sirius," James said, exasperated, "We've been over this and over this. None of that was your fault. You didn't make your parents attack, you didn't make the Death Eaters use you and your parents as an excuse to attack, and you didn't start the whole bloody mess. Regulus fired the first spell, remember? And someone else made the Dark Mark."

"Ya, but who fired the second spell?" Sirius asked, sounding thoroughly depressed.

"I did, actually." Peter said, crouching in front of his friends. "I blocked Regulus's shot and then Mrs. Black fired the third shot and after that it was essentially kill or be killed."

"It wasn't your fault, Sirius. There was nothing you could have done."

"Ya," Peter said with a crooked smile, "Siriusly."

"Shut up." Sirius said, pushing Peter over. James and Sirius tackled him when he tried to get up, and all three were soon breathless with laughter as they roughhoused in the corridor, banging into suits of armour and causing the gargoyles to yell for someone to break up the fight.

"James William Potter, Sirius Orion Black, and Peter Pleiades **(A/N: PLEE-ah-deez) **Pettigrew!" James looked up into the furious face of Theresa Potter. Barry was standing behind her, barely containing his smile. "What sort of behaviour is this? You were all raised better than this! Honestly, brawling in the school hallway! It's no wonder you four receive so many detentions. You would think that you four had been raised by Satan!"

"I was." James muttered.

"Nonsense, Jimbo. You were raised by a saint." Barry with a wink.

"Quiet, Barry. These boys are in trouble."

"Honestly, Mother Theresa," Sirius said, standing up and brushing down his robes, "Didn't you ever have a bit of a good natured tussle when you were here?"

"Sirius, she's a girl." James pointed out.

"So?"

"Girls don't tussle."

"Oh. Well they don't know what they're missing."

"Oh, I know exactly what I missed." Theresa said, pulling out her wand and coming over to the boys. "I missed getting black eyes, split lips, cut eyebrows, and ripped and dirty clothes. You three, however, have managed to contract the lot of them."

James lifted his hand to his eyebrow, which was stinging from where he had hit it against the stone floor accidentally. Sirius wincingly touched his eyes, which was already turning purple.

"You're gonna have a hell of shiner tomorrow." James said.

"You're one to talk, Gore-Face." Sirius replied, grinning. "Anything you can do for us, Mother Theresa?" Theresa pursed her lips, but waved her wand and fixed Sirius's eye all the same.

"Thanks, love." He said, winking.

"Sirius!" James exclaimed. "That's my mother you're flirting with, you wanking twat!"

"Language, Jamie!"

"Sorry Mum." James said sheepishly as Remus finally came down the spiral staircase saying, "He wants to talk to all of us again."

**.o.O.o.**

"I don't understand a bloody word of this bloody paragraph of bloody transfiguration!"

"Well if it's so bloody, Padfoot, maybe you should take it to the Hospital Wing."

"Har-dee har har Moons. Very funny."

"I thought it was."

"You think every joke they make is funny." James said reasonably. Peter flushed and looked back at the essay he was trying to write.

"Oi, Jamie, Jamesie, Jimbo. Help with this damn thing, won't you?"

"Nope."

"Come on, Prongs. I'll give a carrot." Sirius tempted.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I'm gonna go to the kitchens."

"Watch for Prefects. The Slytherins are on rounds tonight." Remus warned.

"They can't do anything." James scoffed.

"Since it's after curfew, they can dock points and give detention."

"Fine, I'll take the map."

James left the room, muttering, "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_." He paused, staring at the map.

Marlene McKinnon was standing in the Divinations stairwell, surrounded by Donald Greenback, Chad Schaal, and Kiernan Pourkaviani, three sixth year Ravenclaw boys. Peeves the Poltergeist was floating around in the hallway leading to the stairwell.

He quickly stashed the map and his wand into a pocket in his robes, and dashed out of the portrait hole. If he took the short cut behind the Goblin Wars Tapestry, he could get to the stairwell and avoid Peeves.

James slowed to a walk as he made his way closer to the exit in the practically invisible alcove behind the circular staircase.

"Come on, Mar-Mar." Donald was saying. "Just go out with me. You can stop playing innocent. I saw the look you were giving me at dinner."

James peered out of the shadows to see Donald leaning against the wall, one hand on either side of Marlene's head. Marlene was holding her divination text book in front of her, keeping it securely between herself and Donald. Chad and Kiernan were leaning against the wall next to the entrance from the hallway.

"If you mean the look of disgust as you shoveled as much food into your mouth as fast as possible, than yes, I was looking at you." Marlene said, "But I have no idea how you managed to misinterpret it as a look of longing."

"Don't lie, Mar-Mar. You and I both know how much you want me." He wiggled his eyebrows in what he clearly assumed was a seductive manner, and leaned in, clearly inching in for a kiss. Marlene struggled, trying get away from him, but she had nowhere to go.

James cleared his throat and watched with amusement as Kiernan and Chad started visibly. Donald leapt back, giving Marlene the room to move away.

"Whose there?" Donald asked and James stepped out of the shadows. Marlene's face transformed into one of relief as she saw him. Donald, however, was not so pleased. "What are you doing here Potter?"

"Oh, I just fancied a stroll." James replied, leaning back against the wall. He casually tucked his hands into the pockets in his robes, his right hand closing around his wand, just in case. He looked at Marlene. "What are you doing here?"

"Marlene and I were just having a nice chat." Donald said. "Why don't you run along? Go annoy Evans or something."

"I was asking Marlene." James responded, still looking at Marlene.

"I was talking with Professor Frosch about astronomical divination." Marlene said.

"And were the boys bothering you?"

"Yes." she said with a little smile.

"Well, then boys, why don't you all run along? Go play with each other … or yourselves." James smirked.

All three boys changed colour at the implications, Donald and Chad going red, and Kiernan going white. Marlene coughed slightly to hide her laugh.

"Why you little–" Chad hissed, drawing his wand and starting towards James. James drew his wand and flicked it, thinking _Stupefy_ as hard as he could. Chad collapsed. James smiled wryly.

"Rule number one, boys." James said, still smirking and pompously running a hand through his hair. "Never duel someone infinitely more skilled than you are." Marlene grinned and moved to his side.

"Why do you even care about her?" Kiernan asked, still white with anger. James sighed, and made a split second decision.

"Because I'm her boyfriend." he said, and, taking Marlene's hand, pulled her into the passage way.

Marlene started to laugh as soon as they were out of earshot of the three boys. "Oh, did you see their faces? That was hilarious!"

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen." James said, not even cracking a smile. Marlene's laughter subsided and she walked quietly beside him down to the kitchens. They sat at the small table in one of the kitchen corners as the house-elves brought them butterbeer and toast. Comfort food.

"What's the matter, James?" Marlene asked after a few moments of silence.

"Why does something have to be the matter for me to want to go to the kitchens?" Marlene glared at James. "I just wanted to have a drink with my girlfriend, is that so weird?"

"Yes, considering the fact that until a few moments ago, I wasn't your girlfriend." Marlene sighed and reached for his hand across the table. "If you aren't in this completely, this relationship isn't going to work. No one will believe it."

"I am in it completely. I've thought about it, and it's the right thing to do." James replied.

"Okay." Marlene nodded. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"How are we supposed to convince everyone that we're madly in love?" James asked, "You said you have a plan."

"Oh, that's easy, really." Marlene smirked. "We don't have to convince everyone that we're in love, just that we're committed completely."

"And how are we doing that?"

"We're going to shag almost every night." James was so surprised he practically sprayed his mouthful of butterbeer on his new girlfriend.

"I beg your pardon?" James spluttered. Marlene laughed.

"We won't actually shag, we just have to make everyone think that we are. We could sit on your bed and do homework and put up the precautionary spells, and then I stay the night. No one would be able to tell the difference."

"So we just sit and do homework?" James asked incredulously.

"Yup. I'll help you with essays and things and you can help me with wand work."

"I suppose it could work." James said.

"Of course it'll work." Marlene said confidently. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, finishing off their toast. James had one more question to ask her, but he felt odd bringing it up. Marlene seemed to be able to read his thoughts.

"What's up?"

"Um, why me?" James asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you pick me? Why not, I dunno, Sirius or something? He's more popular than I am and he doesn't have a reputation of being entirely in love with someone."

"Because kissing Sirius would be weird." Marlene replied calmly, standing and picking up her text book. "Come on, we should get to bed." James stood and took her hand, wondering why, exactly, kissing Sirius would be so weird.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful!**

**And if anyone was wondering where I pulled the middle names from, I really like the name William, Orion is always used as Sirius's middle name and when I looked up ****Pleiades (I was writing this after watching Treasure Planet and the main character's name is James Pleiades Hawkins) I found this: **_**7 daughters of Atlas and half-sisters of the Hyades who were placed among the stars to save them from the **__**pursuit of Orion**_**. I was originally gonna use Pleiades for James, but once I saw that I had to use it for Peter!**

**Tapi**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 12**

"Hey." Marlene said, sliding onto the bench next to James during breakfast the next morning. James blinked in surprise.

"I didn't know you were allowed to sit at a different house's table during meals." he said. "Pass the sausage."

"Well," Marlene replied, passing the requested dish, "They always make exceptions for couples, don't they?"

James glanced at the other boys uncomfortably. He hadn't told them what had happened in the stairwell.

Sirius was staring at Marlene as though she had grown to heads, while Peter seemed unable to unglue his eyes from her chest. Remus, who had been in the middle of taking a sip of pumpkin juice, coughed, choked, and coughed again.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked as soon as he had stopped coughing. Marlene grinned and grabbed a piece of toast off the toast rack.

"James?" Sirius asked, turning to his friend for an explanation.

"Um, ya. Marlene and I became a couple last night." James said awkwardly.

"When?" Remus asked.

"When I went down to the kitchens." James said, and explained what had happened.

"Since when are you even interested in her? No offence Marlene." Sirius said. "But, you've never looked at anyone other than Evans and you get mad at any of us for even suggesting you find someone else."

"As a girlfriend." Remus corrected. "He's never had issues with one night stands."

"I said that I was moving on from Evans and I am." James said, getting annoyed. "Can't you just accept that and leave it alone?" Sirius shrugged and went back to his breakfast while Remus looked like he wanted to continue arguing, before he thought the better of it. "Peter, stop staring at my girlfriends chest!" James yelled. A few people turned their heads to see what was going on and Marlene ducked her head to hide her smile. Peter blushed scarlet and returned to his eggs.

**.o.O.o.**

"One thing I don't understand, though." Sirius said as they were walking to class. "Is why Marlene wants to date _you_. I mean, no offence–"

"Some taken." James muttered.

Sirius grinned and continued, "Marlene is like me. One night stands only. As soon as she gets into a relationship, she starts to get choked and controlled. She's weird that way, all sexy and confident until there's a permanent man, and then she becomes a meek little sheep."

"Do you have a point?" Remus asked, his cane clicking against the floor as they walked.

Sirius continued as though he hadn't heard. "It also doesn't help that she's always attracted to abusive people. And I will kill you if you do that to her." Sirius said to James. "But anyways, she's learned not to go into relationships because of that. Just quick and dirty sex, no emotional attachment."

"What's your point Sirius?" Peter asked.

"Why is she in a relationship now?" Sirius finished.

"That's actually a good point." Remus said.

"No need to sound so surprised." Sirius complained.

"Well you don't normally pay any attention to anyone other than us." James said, avoiding the question about Marlene.

"I always pay attention to Marlene." he replied sincerely. "She's in a position similar to mine, family wise. The rest McKinnon's are into Dark Arts and, even though they're not from an old line of pure blood, they're still pure bloods. She and I usually stuck together at the big parties and she's sort of like a little sister to me." Sirius admitted quietly.

"Why is this the first we've ever heard of it?" Remus asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "I don't talk about my family. And anyways, that's not the point. You're avoiding the question, Jamie." Sirius admonished.

"_Don't call me Jamie_." James said glaring at Sirius who smirked in reply. James sighed and ran his hand through his hair, messing up the already messy mop of hair. "Why is it so unbelievable that Marlene is into me?"

"Because last year, I asked her if she would try to get you to go out with her so that you would stop moping about Evans, and she said no because she thinks you would be a great friend, like someone that she could go to if she needed help but couldn't come to me for some reason. Marlene didn't think that you would make a good boyfriend because you're too in love with Evans."

"Oh." James said. Well, Sirius was right. She _had_ come to him for help in a matter that Sirius really couldn't help her with. It was odd enough that they were dating, but if it were her and Sirius … that would just be ludicrous. James sighed again, pulling his hand through his hair once more. "Look, if you want to know why she's suddenly dating me and why I'm suddenly dating her, you're going to need to ask her. I'm sworn to secrecy."

"You're sworn to secrecy?" Remus asked incredulously, "You mean that you actually have a reason for dating her besides the fact that you like her?" James squirmed uncomfortably.

"Well, yes, in a way– Ow!" James exclaimed as he crashed into Sirius who had stopped suddenly in the middle of the hall. It was empty of everyone except for the four boys by now, everyone else having gone to class. "What the hell did you stop for, numpty?"

Sirius rounded on James, pulling his wand out and pointing it at his friend. "You're dating her to get something, aren't you?"

"What? Sirius put down your bloody wand." Remus said, pushing Sirius's arm down so that the wand pointed to the ground.

"If I'm being entirely honest, yes. But," he added hurriedly as Sirius raised his wand again. "She's dating me to get something to and we've both been very honest about everything so it's fine. Neither of us are getting hurt, and you know that if I ever hurt a girl in anyway, my mother would gut me like a fish. So Marlene's safe. I won't hurt her. Promise."

"Sorry." Sirius said, shoving his wand back into his pocket, and turning around, heading down the hall in the direction of the Muggle Studies classroom.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Peter said quietly, stopping Sirius in his tracks.

Sirius sighed. "Yes, but not in a romantic way. That would just be weird."

"That's what Marlene said." James nodded.

"Ah, so kind of you all to join us." Professor Danforth said as the four boys came in late. "Ten points each and sit down. Now, who can tell me, what exactly the function of a rubber duck is?"

**.o.O.o.**

"So." Marlene whirled around to stare at Sirius as he leaned against the wall next to the tapestry of Gilgamesh and the Giants. "James. Who would have thought, huh?"

"Can we not talk about this here?" Marlene asked uncomfortably.

"Fine. Follow me." Sirius said, turning and heading for the staircase at the end of the hall, leading her up to the seventh floor corridor. "Look, if you stare long enough at that tapestry, you can see the nargles." He pointed to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"What are nargles?" Marlene asked, smiling slightly. This was the Sirius she knew, always coming up with random comments and odd secrets.

"Well, you won't know unless you stare at that tapestry, will you?" Sirius said with a wink. Marlene rolled her eyes, but turned her attention to the tapestry none the less. Sirius turned to wall opposite Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry and began pacing, thinking, _I need a place where Marlene and I can talk and she can feel safe and comfortable, I need somewhere were Marlene will feel comfortable talking to me, I need–_ The door materialized.

"Come on." Sirius said, pulling her sleeve.

"But the nargles haven't appeared yet." Marlene protested, "Where did that door come from?"

"Come on." Sirius laughed, pulling her into the room.

Marlene gasped, staring at the purple walls and white furniture. "This is my room. How is this here?"

Sirius shrugged. "It's Hogwarts. Who knows?" He flopped onto the desk chair. "Now. James. Spill."

**.o.O.o.**

"Where have you been, Padfoot?" James asked as Sirius came into the dormitory. He looked shell shocked, completely stunned and on the verge of sickness.

"You don't look very good. Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" Remus asked, concerned.

"Huh? Oh, no, no, I'll be okay. It's just the shock." Sirius sank slowly onto his bed, muttering, "Who would have thought?"

"Who would have thought what?" Peter asked. Sirius gave no sign of having heard.

"OI! PADFOOT!" James yelled, startling Sirius out of his reverie. He fell on the floor in surprise. "Who would have though what?" James asked, repeating Peter's question.

"I, uh, I talked to Marlene." Sirius replied, pulling himself up off the floor. "About you. Who would have thought, huh?"

James grinned, understanding in a flash why his friend looked so pale. "I know, right? I was surprised to. She's never given any indication?"

"Not a one." Sirius replied shaking his head.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Remus asked, annoyed.

"Spoilers." James teased.

"What the hell does that mean?" Peter asked.

"If we tell you, it'll spoil the surprise!" James was grinning now.

"What surprise?" Remus asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see." James replied.

**.o.O.o.**

Lily shifted restlessly in her bed, having difficulty calming down enough to sleep. She couldn't get that conversation with Severus out of her head.

Lily sighed and shoved her blankets off, slipping her feet into her slippers and quietly padding to the chest at the foot of her bed. She quietly pulled out her most comfortable pair of leggings and one of Rory's old sweaters. Lily dressed quickly, threw her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head, and pulled out her copy of the Witch of Blackbird Pond from the bottom of her trunk.

Lily padded quietly out of her dorm room and headed for the common room. She tried to read, but found she was much too restless. Lily groaned and stood, leaving her book on the table next to the chair where she had been sitting. She slipped out of the portrait hole, making her way through the empty hallways towards an abandoned wing near the Library.

The hallways were deserted, it was after three. The witching hour.

"Well, well, well." Lily flinched and turned towards the boy who was leaning oh, so casually against the wall behind her. He had come from, seemingly, nowhere. "What have we here? A Prefect out of bed? Really, Miss Evans, I thought better of you."

Lily glared at him. "Shut up Potter. You're out of bed too."

"True," Potter conceded, "But everyone expects me to break the rules whereas you are meant to enforce them. What are you doing out of bed anyways?"

"Nothing." Lily replied.

"You're breaking curfew to do nothing?" Potter asked disbelievingly, "What sort of rule-breaker are you?"

Lily glared again. "I am doing something."

"Oh, really? And what, pray tell, is that?"

"None of your bloody business Potter. It's personal." Lily replied, blushing lightly.

"Oh, it's that." Potter said knowingly.

"It's what?"

"Well, you see Lily," he started in a condescending tone, pushing of the wall, and walking towards Lily, "they're called monthlies. They are perfectly normal for any girl, although most start them before sixteen–"

"I started my monthlies when I was fourteen you bloody perv, I know what they are. My sneaking out has nothing to do with them whatsoever."

"Then where were you going?" James asked, smirking, stopping close enough to touch Lily. She didn't move away.

"Why should I tell you?"

James blinked unsure for a moment, then made a split second decision. "Because, if you don't," his hand came up and tucked a curl behind Lily's ear as he thought, _I'm insan_e_, she's gonna kill me_. James let his fingers brush along her cheek. His stomach flopped oddly. "If you don't, I'll kiss you."

Lily's breath hitched. "Fine." she said. Disappointment flashed through James's eyes as Lily started off down the hall. "Are you coming?" she called over her shoulder.

James hesitated a moment before following her.

What the hell had all that been? Why had he started flirting with her again? He had been doing so well. He hadn't said word since term started. True, it had only truly started yesterday, but still! That was pretty good, considering that he was in love with her.

They made their way to the secluded and abandoned classroom. There were desks stacked high against the walls and chairs piled haphazardly around the room.

"An abandoned classroom?" James asked, "If you wanted to snog Evans, all you had to do was ask."

"I don't want to snog." Lily replied with disgust. "I came to see that." She pointed at a full length mirror, stuffed into a back corner.

It looked beautiful in the moonlight, golden and shimmering, the words Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whose dark shadows carved around the mirror face.

James gaped at it. "What is it?"

"The Mirror of Erised."

"What does the writing mean?"

"I show not your face, but your heart's desire." James stared at it clearly awed. He stepped back and looked at his image. His lips parted slightly and his eyes widened at the reflection.

Where his reflection should have been, he saw an older version of himself, standing with his arm around an older Lily's shoulders. They were both smiling down at the bundle in Lily's arms. As James watched, Lily shifted the bundle and James saw a beautiful baby with a shock of black hair and stunning green eyes.

"What do you see?" Lily asked, unable to curb her curiosity.

"You first." he replied, tearing his eyes away from the Mirror and stepping aside.

Lily glared, but stepped up to the mirror. She looked at the image and gapped.

"What do you see?" James asked.

Lily hesitated for a moment before saying, "I see myself as a content old woman looking at a wall covered in diplomas, awards, and pictures of my family. I have led a successful life and proved to the purists that Muggle-Borns are just as good as they are." she turned away from the image. "Now you."

James grinned crookedly. "I saw the world crash and burn and everything in it destroyed. I watched Voldemort kill my family and friends and it made me extremely happy, especially when he killed you."

Lily gaped at him. "You didn't."

"No. But if you get to make up what you saw, than so do I."

"I didn't make that up."

"Maybe not, but you hesitated. That means that you clearly weren't describing what was in front of you."

"Well I don't have to tell you what I saw."

"Maybe not, but if you want to know what I saw, then you do."

"Fine." Lily said, and stormed out of the room and back to Gryffindor Tower.

**.o.O.o.**

"Did you hear?" Mary said, sliding onto the bench next to Lily the next morning at breakfast.

"Hear what?" Alice asked groggily.

"About Potter and McKinnon."

"What about them?" Lily asked, sipping her pumpkin juice.

"They're dating." Mary said excitedly.

"What?" Alice said, waking up and staring at Mary. "Are you sure?"

"Yup. Just look at them." Mary pointed down the table to where Potter, Remus, Peter, and Marlene were all siting. Black was nowhere to be seen. "You know as well as I do that the only reason a Ravenclaw would be allowed to sit with the Gryffindor's is if they were dating one."

Lily stared at the two with what could only what could only be described as horrified fascination, similar to the way a person would stare at a horrific car crash. She desperately wanted to look away, but couldn't seem to make herself. Her ears were rushing.

Lily shook her head. Ears rushing? Horrified fascination? It was almost as though she _cared_. But she didn't, Lily told herself firmly. _I don't. _Potter could do whatever the hell he wanted.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing. Also, when something is written in italics it is a letter **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in italics, normal BOLD is text book.**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 13**

_October, 6__th__ 1975_

The weeks past, and James started getting restless. He was abiding by his resolution to not ask Lily out, but it was hard. Every time he saw her would get fuzzy feelings and start acting like a prick, although that was nothing new.

The only problem was, it was getting so much worse now that he wasn't able to flirt with her or ask her out, or show his interest in her at all. It was brutal.

"Stop staring at her. You look like a bleeding stalker."

It was lunch time on the first Saturday in October.

"Shut up Sirius." James muttered, turning away from Lily.

"You really shouldn't stare at her James. Especially now that you've stopped paying attention to her." Remus reasoned.

"It just so bloody hard!" James complained.

Peter giggled.

"What?" James asked, glaring at him.

"Oh, nothing!" Peter said, giggling again.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Well … You could always send her anonymous love letters." Peter said.

"Well, aren't you a bloody romantic." Sirius muttered sarcastically, slurping at his soup.

James, on the other hand, disagreed. His mind began working out ideas. The one thing that he wanted to be careful of was to not make Lily think that someone else was sending them. He didn't want to push her towards some other person.

James grabbed his bag and headed up to the common room, deep in thought, eliminating plans and ideas that were too radical or too obvious.

"Television." he said when he reached Gryffindor Tower, ducking through the portrait hole and into the mostly empty common room.

Sighing, he sunk into one of arm chairs by the fire, rubbing his eyes, and pushing his glasses up to rest in his hair the way he always did when he wanted to concentrate his thoughts. He settled back in his chair and stared at the blurry fire, letting thoughts and plans circulate through his mind, dismissing most of them.

Wait, what if… But, was it really worth the risk? If Lily figured this out … If he explained the situation properly, he was sure that Lily would keep it all secret.

That decided, James slid his glasses back down onto the bridge of his nose and fished around for a piece of parchment in order to compose a rough copy of his first note, then went up to his room and retrieved the ink he had bought at the beginning of the year which changed a person's handwriting into something legible and generic.

James copied out the note onto a fresh piece of parchment, and went up to the Owlrey as quickly as he could. He selected a school owl, carried it to the window, and watched it fly away.

**.o.O.o.**

Lily sighed as she sat down under a tree by the lake.

Even though the school year had only begun a month ago, Lily was already feeling swamped by the amount of homework the teachers were piling on.

"And I though last year was bad." Lily muttered ruefully as she pulled out her Defence Against The Dark Arts textbook and a scroll of parchment.

She flipped to the chapter on cross-species and began to read.

**Cross-species are creatures that are not fully one or another. The most commonly known cross-species is the Werewolf (Chapter 2) however this is not the only kind. The most dangerous are partial hags and partial banshees. These creatures are harmful enough on their own, but when combined with another Dark Creature, they can become practically unstoppable and indestructible.**

"Ow!" Lily yelped as a sharp pain pricked the back of her hand. She looked over to see that one of the schools owls had landed on her bag. It was carrying a letter which it dropped impatiently on top of Lily's textbook.

Across the top was written, _**Lily Evans**_, in unfamiliar handwriting. The owl looked at the letter, then at Lily, then at the letter, shuffling its feather's impatiently.

Taking the hint, Lily picked it up, slit it open, and read it carefully.

_**Dear Miss Evans**_

_**As priggish as it sounds, I have wanted to strike up an acquaintance with you for some time now, but lacked the courage to approach you in the halls. I still don't have the courage to talk to you myself, so I hide behind paper and my alias. **_

_**If you would consent, I should like to correspond with you. I understand, however, that it is unlikely you would want to. If that is the case, please say so upfront, and I promise that I will never bother you again. **_

_**To respond, put your own letter in my envelope and write 'return to sender' above where I wrote your name. The owl will deliver the letter to me.**_

_**Please don't try to find out who I am for if the knowledge were to become commonly known, it would harm my dearest friend.**_

_**Anxiously awaiting your response,**_

_**Messer Prongs**_

_**PS. Please don't show this to anyone else. If the other Marauders found out that I had sent you this note, I'd be dead in a heartbeat!**_

Lily stared at the signature in awe. Prongs of the Marauders had sent her a letter. Asking her to correspond with him. Oh hell! What should she do? There was a chance, a fairly large chance that this was all a prank, but then again, what would anyone find entertaining? And there was also his postscript...

Well why not? It couldn't hurt really. She didn't let herself think that maybe the reason she was willing to do his was because of what she had heard Potter say when the bubble popped at the beginning of the school year.

Lily fished around in her bag, pulled out a piece of parchment and, without pausing to doubt her decision, began to write.

_Dear Mr. Prongs:_

_I was a little skeptical at first, wondering if this might be a prank of some kind, but I have decided to trust you. I would love to correspond with you, although I'm not sure how to do it effectively. We can only write 'return to sender' so many times before the owls get confused. I hope your brilliant Marauder mind managed to come up with an idea. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone anything. _

_Tentatively curious,_

_Lily Evans_

Lily tucked the letter into the envelope, scrawled 'return to sender' on it quickly and then watched the owl fly up to the castle. Sighing, she turned back to her paper, which no longer seemed nearly as interesting as it had been previously. Five minutes later, the owl was back.

Lily looked up in surprise as it landed on her bag. She hadn't expected an answer so quickly. This time, the owl carried a small scrap of parchment with _**Lily Evans**_ scrawled across one side.

Lily turned the paper over and felt a small thrill of excitement at the four words written there.

_**Leave that to me!**_

The rest of the week passed without any more notes for Mr. Prongs. Lily started to wonder if she has dreamed the whole thing, but the letter stashed under her pillow proved it had happened.

Then, two weeks after she had received the odd request, an owl swooped down during the breakfast and dropped a square package in front of her. Scrawled across the top were the words,

_**Please open in private.**_

_**-P**_

Lily, impatient as ever, bolted down the rest of her eggs, grabbed her bag and the package, and sprinted to Moaning Myrtles bathroom, ignoring Mary and Alice as they called out after her.

Reaching the bathroom, Lily quickly locked herself into a stall and sat on one of johns after lowering the lid. She paused to steady her nerves. This package could be a prank...

Lily quickly ripped off the paper before her mind could run away with itself.

Inside was a small lump of iron, a note, and a copy of the sixth year Transfiguration workbook.

The workbooks had come out this year, but not many people used them. They were good for students who had difficulty taking good notes or understanding the subject, but other than that, they were a waste of paper.

Not understanding the contents in the slightest, Lily opened the note.

_**Dear Miss Evans**_

_**I came up with a system that will allow us to communicate more effectively. The 'workbook' is actually a transfigured note book. There is nothing inside it. I have a book as well. The two books are linked with a type of Protean Charm, which I'm sure you know all about! The book is also enchanted so that only you can read it. If anyone else looks, it will look like a work book filled up to the point where you stopped writing. Even I wouldn't be able to read your book.**_

_**The iron is linked to the books and enchanted to grow warm when either of us writes anything in them. I didn't know what type of jewelry you would like best, so I charmed it so that all you need to do is tap it three times with your wand and tell it what to turn into. I would recommend a ring or something that sits against your skin so that you'll feel it when it gets warm.**_

_**Ecstatically yours,**_

_**Messer Prongs **_

Lily stared at the parchment. The type of magic that he had said he had done was extremely advanced. This boy must be absolutely brilliant.

Trembling slightly with excitement, Lily put the note aside and reached for her wand and the blob of iron. She tapped it three times and said, "Ring". The metal in her palm seemed to liquefy before forming itself into a beautiful ring shaped into Celtic Knots. Lily slipped it onto the middle finger of her right hand. It fit perfectly.

Grinning, she pulled the workbook towards her and flipped to the first page. Pulling out her quill, she quickly wrote, _Hello._

_**Hi! Shouldn't you be in class? It started a few minutes ago.**_

Lily glanced in alarm at her watch. He was right. She grabbed her bag and bolted to Transfiguration. The only seats left were at the very back of the class. For once, McGonagall didn't notice.

Lily pulled out the workbook again as well as her parchment.

_How did you know I wasn't in class?_

_**I have my ways! I am a Marauder after all! **_

_**What class do you have right now?**_

_Transfiguration. You?_

_**If I tell you, you might be able to figure out who I am. I don't really know if you realized, but I can't really tell you anything about myself. It would put Padfoot, Mooney, and Wormtail's identities at jeopardy.**_

_**Trust me, I want to tell you, but until they say I can, I'll only be Messer Prongs.**_

_Do they know that we're 'talking' to each other?_

_**Yes. I needed their help to perform the spells.**_

Lily gulped nervously. Having three of four Marauders against you were not good survival odds. Then again, maybe they weren't...

_How do they feel about it?_

_**Wormtail doesn't understand what's going on and Mooney understands but isn't that happy about it. Padfoot is furious of course, but he can't really do anything because Mooney won't let him.**_

_Why does that affect Padfoot? Is Mooney your leader?_

"Miss Evans." Lily glanced up in surprise, having forgotten she was in class, she hadn't been paying attention. She felt her new ring grow warm and she glanced down at the page in front of her.

_**Say that the spell is Fenrilious Deviousis.**_

Well, it was better than nothing.

"The spell is _Fenrilious Deviousis._"

"Very good Miss Evans. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, the wand wave that accompanies this type of spell..."

_Thanks,_ Lily wrote gratefully, _you really saved me there. How did you know the question though,_ _let alone the answer?_

_**Magic**_

_**And I'm in your Transfiguration class.**_

Lily glanced around the room quickly, but everyone was writing notes, even Potter. No, he was doodling in an empty note book. Naturally.

_**Don't start looking for me Lily; I know how to stay unnoticed. I am a Marauder after all. **_

_How did you know I was looking? No one even glanced my way!_

_**Marauder.**_

_Aren't you articulate!_

_**I can be when I feel like it.**_

_Prove it._

_**Okay, how?**_

_What are your plans for the future?_

_**Easy. Auror.**_

_That was two words. That's hardly articulate. _

_**I want to be an Auror because both my parents are. They leave in the middle of the night without a word and don't come back for weeks sometimes. They have killed people, they have tortured people, they have been tortured. They have dealt with Inferi, Werewolves, Pixies, Hags, Ghouls, and Death Eaters. Every time I see them I wonder if it will be the last time. **_

Lily stared in horrified shock at what Prongs had written.

_Then why would you want to be an Auror?_

_**Because they save people. Every time they come home, they have horror stories and hero stories. When I was little, I used to ask them to tell me the hero stories before bedtime instead of having them read Beetle the Bard. They would say that good always comes with bad, so if I wanted to hear a hero story, I also had to listen to a horror story. Those stories were awful. I was seven when my dad told me a story where he was forced to torture one of his friends to the brink of death so that Dad didn't blow his cover.**_

_**But after the bad story, mum would tell me about how they would finally beat the bad guy, and how the people that they saved were always so thankful that the Aurors were looking out for them. One of my favorite stories was when the two of them had just gotten rid of a particularly nasty banshee-hag cross-breed that had been harassing this little dirt poor village up in the Scottish highlands. The villagers brought out all the food that they had and set up this community meal in the town square. Mum said that it was mostly shriveled vegetables, weak soup, and hard bread, but to her, it tasted better than a Hogwarts feast because it was made with gratitude and love. That night, Dad proposed to her.**_

_**Its stories like that that make me want to be an Auror and I always know that, no matter what, there will always light after the dark.**_

Lily stared at the paper again. Was this boy really only sixteen? He sounded so wise, so mature, and so worldly.

_**Lily? Are you still there?**_

_Yes. Wow. That's an amazing story. My dad's just a Real Estate Agent and my mum's a house wife._

_**House wife?**_

_She doesn't work, she just stays home and looks after everything like tax payments and meals and cleaning things._

_**Your mothers a house elf?**_

_No! She's a muggle who loves my father and the family and who doesn't like offices and work areas. She likes doing household tasks so that's what she does. It's not that hard to understand, Mr. Prongs._

_**Would you mind dropping the Mr? It makes me feel old.**_

Lily had barely finished reading this when the class ended and students began shoving books into their bags, and hurrying out into the hall.

Lily sighed. She hadn't paid any attention to the class, and because of that, didn't have a clue what the homework was or even what they had been learning.

She would have to be very careful of a boy who had managed to distract her from an entire class.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing. Remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 14**

"Um, Lily? Can I talk to you?" Lily looked up from her dinner to see McKinnon, who was standing behind her.

"I guess." Lily sighed.

"In private?"

"Fine." Lily grabbed her bag and followed McKinnon out, through the entrance hall, and into a stairwell. "What?"

"I just wanted to make sure we're still okay and that you're not mad." McKinnon said carefully.

"Why wouldn't we be okay?" Lily asked derisively.

"Well, James and I are dating now," She said delicately, "And he has always expressed an interest in you."

Lily felt a twinge at the reminder. "What's your point, McKinnon?"

"Oh, I knew you were angry." McKinnon despaired.

"I'm not mad! Where did you get that idea?" Lily asked.

"You called me McKinnon. You only call people by their last names when you're mad at them or you hate them or you don't know them."

"But I _don't_ know you." Lily replied.

"We're friends of a sort, though." Marlene replied. "We always talked during prefect meetings. Us two and Dorcas, we're friends of a sort."

"I guess." Lily said.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think James actually likes me," Marlene said, "Just don't tell anyone I said that."

"If he doesn't like you, why are you two together?"

"Because I need him." Marlene murmured.

"To boost your image?" Lily asked incredulously, "Mar, you don't need _him_ to do that! You are, by far, the most universally liked girl at Hogwarts."

"Look, never mind it. Are you okay with me and James being together?"

"Ya, it's fine." Lily replied, wondering why Marlene felt like she had to ask.

"Good." Marlene replied, looking very relieved. She picked up her bag and turned to leave the stairwell before turning back to Lily. "Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor." she said tentatively.

"Sure." Lily sighed.

"I'm having some difficulty with the cheering charms and I was wondering if you would mind helping me with them?"

"Of course." Lily said and together, the two girls made their way to the library. Once there, Marlene went immediately to a cozy table in the back corner, and placed her things on a chair on one side of the table, sitting in the chair beside it. Lily placed her bag on the floor beside her and pulled out her Charms text book and her wand. Marlene did the same.

"So what are you–"

"What are you doing all the way back here?" Lily stiffened as she heard that voice. She scowled slightly.

"Now don't look like that." Marlene said quietly as Potter emerged from the shelves behind Lily. She smiled at her boyfriend. "Lily and I are working on cheering charms. Care to join us?"

"Oh, yes please." Potter said, taking the only available seat, which just happened to be beside Lily. "My charms work is awful. I need all the help I can get. That is, if you wouldn't mind helping me, Evans?" he looked at Lily and smiled sweetly. Lily felt her stomach flutter oddly. Nerves, she told herself, just nerves.

"Okay, what part of the spell are you two having so much trouble with?"

**.o.O.o.**

"This is ridiculous! Why is this spell even necessary?" Potter cried a frustrated hour later.

"You're just not concentrating!" Lily replied for what felt like the umpteenth time. "If I have told you once, I have told you a hundred thousand times: You hold your wand like this," Lily corrected his grip again, "And emphasize the _oh_ not the _ah_!"

"Well excuse me for having difficulty breaking a few habits! In Transfiguration, you would never hold your wand this way and who the bloody hell cares how to pronounce the sodding incantation?"

"You should," Lily whisper-yelled back, "Since you can't seem to get it right!" She drew a breath and let it out slowly, trying to release her anger and frustration. "Now try again."

Potter scowled, waved his wand, correctly this time, and muttered the incantation, putting so much emphasis on the _oh_ syllable that he mispronounced it.

"I'm really sorry," Marlene said, checking her watch, "But I have patrols. I'll see you in the morning." Marlene gave Potter a quick peck on the cheek and said, "Thanks Lily." before grabbing her bag and leaving the library. Lily watched her leave, staring after her oddly.

"What?" Potter asked.

"Nothing." Lily replied.

"Seriously, what? Why are you looking at her like that?"

"You two aren't very…" Lily trailed off.

"_What_?" Potter insisted.

"Affectionate." Lily finished, "You two have been dating for a week and no one has ever seen you kiss, or hold hands, or act like anything other than friends."

"So we're not big on public displays of affection." Potter shrugged.

"But that's not true." Lily protested.

"How do you know?"

"Because whenever Marlene has had a boyfriend in the past, they've been all over each other all the time. And I know very well how you feel about affection and public displays of it considering the fact that you stalked me for five years."

"I didn't stalk." Potter protested.

"You did to." Lily smirked. "I can remember a few love notes that found their way into my bed sheets and onto my pillow. You even managed to fold one in with my pants and bras."

"Alright, so maybe I was a bit stalker-ish," Potter conceded, grinning back. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you. But you didn't answer my question." Lily pointed out.

"And what question would that be?"

"Why aren't you and Marlene affectionate in public?"

"Because we save it for the bedroom." Potter shrugged.

Lily blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Potter smirked and ruffled his hair. "Just because we don't kiss in public, doesn't mean we don't shag. And she is a _bloody brilliant_ shag."

"You're disgusting." Lily said, shutting her Charms book and standing up to leave.

"No, wait," Potter said, reaching and putting a hand on her arm to stop her from leaving, his face assuming an expression of alarm. "Look, I'm sorry. Can you please stay? I'm rubbish at this spell."

"I really don't know how to help you." Lily said, pulling away from him and starting towards the door.

"I'll help you with Transfiguration." Potter called. Lily stopped. "If you help me with charms and potions, I can help you with transfiguration."

"Fine." Lily sighed, turning back towards the table, "But no more crude comments."

"Deal." Potter smirked.

**.o.O.o.**

_What would you do,_ Lily wrote to Prongs some hours later, _If you suddenly found yourself in a situation where you thought someone was one person, and they turn out to be the total opposite?_ She put her quill down, and waited for a reply.

_**What do you mean?**_

_Well there's this boy and I used to think he was an idiot, and it turns out that he's actually smart and when you get him into an academic discussion, his company can be quite enjoyable._

_**Who is this mystery man?**_

Lily searched her mind. What name?

_Amos Diggory._

_**Didn't know you talked with him.**_

_I don't really for the most part, but we've had a lot of patrols together lately and he's not quite the idiotic jock that I always took him to be._

_**Nope, he's an idiotic jock. I stake my life on it.**_

Lily giggled when she read that. _Well, what would you do?_

_**What's there to do about it?**_

_Do you believe your old prejudice, or your new information? What if he's faking it to get close to me? He's a bit of a player, so I'm not sure if I should trust him, and I've never even liked being near him before, but as soon as he dropped the priggish attitude, we had a really nice conversation about courses and things. What should I do?_

James sighed, looking at what Lily had wrote. What should he tell her? Tell her give Diggory a chance and he risked pushing her towards another man, but if he told her not to, then why should she give him a chance?

_**I think that you should use your own judgment on this. Watch how he treats other people, not just you. If he's nice to everyone else, then give him a chance. If he's a prick except when you two are on patrols, tell him to stuff it and reschedule so you end up back with Remus.**_

_How did you know I usually patrol with Remus?_

_**Marauder.**_

_**So, what sort of 'academic discussions' did you two get into?**_

_We talked a lot about transfiguration, charms and potions._

_**Transfiguration? I thought you were rubbish at that.**_

_I am a bit._

_**Anyway, don't listen to any transfiguration advice that Diggory gives you. He's more rubbish at it than you are.**_

_Oi, I don't insult your school work, don't insult mine!_

_**You don't know who I am,**_ James felt obliged to point out.

_Prongs._ Lily wrote back.

_**But you don't know who I actually am.**_

Lily paused before writing, _I'd like to._

_**I know you would. Imagine the power and popularity that you could get from exposing the Marauders.**_

_Who do you think I am?_

_**You're saying you wouldn't tell anyone?**_

_No, I wouldn't. I'm just saying that I really enjoy talking with you and I'd like to get to know you better. It seems like the only thing standing in the way of that is your alias._

_**I can't tell you.**_

_I know._

James hesitated and then, looking around to make sure that the dorm room was empty, lowered his quill to the paper and wrote, _**Well, you're welcome to try and figure it out.**_

_How? All I know is that you're in my Transfiguration class, both your parents are aurors, and you think Diggory's a prick. That means that you could be one of fifty. If I had to guess at your house, I'd say Ravenclaw because you are bloody brilliant. That lowers the number down to about three, Jeremy Cox, Ingrid Heap, and Andy Massingham. You're obviously not a girl, but even if you were, Ingrid Heap's muggle born. Andy Massingham's parents are freelance journalists, so that leaves Jeremy Cox. But Jeremy Cox came to school late this year because he was in St. Mungo's recovering from Dragon Pox, and the year before that, he missed the beginning and end of term feats because of deaths in the family, so unless the Marauders pulled three pranks without you, you can't be Jeremy Cox. _Lily paused before adding, _And I think only his mother is an auror. I believe his father's a muggle bobby._

James stared at the paper in awe for a few moments. How much thought had she devoted to the matter? _**Well,**_ he finally wrote, _**I don't know what a bobby is, but I am definitely not Jeremy Cox, Andy Massingham, or Ingrid Heap.**_

_Well, if you're a Hufflepuff, then –_

_**Why don't I save you the trouble of going through every name in the class and tell you that I don't actually have Transfiguration with you.**_

_Well then how the hell did you know the question that McGonagall asked me?_

_**I'm a Marauder, I know practically everything that goes on in Hogwarts. Filch can't scratch his arse without us knowing about it.**_ James sincerely hoped that Lily would never ask him to prove that lie. He didn't particularly want to know when Filch did or didn't scratch his arse.

_That's revolting and I now have to guess who you are from the entire Ravenclaw house._

_**Not the entire Ravenclaw house, my dear Lily. The entire sixth year population of Hogwarts. I never said that I was a Ravenclaw, you just assumed that I was because of my talent and brains.**_

_Well, if I go by that statement alone, I'd say you were James Potter._

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything HP related except for the stuff you don't recognize. This chapter is sort of made up of snapshots, time lapsing a lot of months, just some random character and relationship building moments. I'll try not to skip too much, but I need to move time along. Something big-ish is coming up****.**** Remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 15**

"Shit." James hissed, and slammed his sketch book closed, tossing it to the end of his bed and staring at it as though it were a dementor. He felt his glasses grow warm.

Slowly, James reached out and pulled the book back towards him.

_Prongs?_

… _Are__ you James Potter?_

_**Don't be ridiculous. Do I seem like Potter to you?**_

_Not really. You're a lot nicer than that prick._ James winced.

_If I guess who you are, will you tell me?_

_**I might. I'll ask the others and if they say I can, then I suppose I'll tell you.**_

_Do you want to play a game?_

_**What sort of game?**_

_Twenty Questions. Sort of._

_**What do you mean, sort of?**_

_Well, we take turns asking each other questions and if the other person refuses to answer, then you win. It's a way of getting to know each other._

_**So we just ask each other questions?**_

_Ya. Do you want to play?_

_**Any questions?**_

_Yes. _

_**No restrictions?**_

_No restrictions._ Lily replied, wondering what she was getting into.

_**Alright then. But you can't ask for names. Deal?**_

_Fine. But you can't ask anything about Potter._

_**Why not?**_

_Because this is a Potter-free zone. _James snorted when he read that. Yup, Potter-free. Completely.

_**Deal. You go first.**_

What to ask? Lily wondered. Simple's always a good place to start. _Favorite color?_

_**Emerald green.**_

_Sure you're not a Slytherin?_ Lily joked.

_**Har-dee-har-har. Favorite food?**_

_Cheese soufflé. _

**.o.O.o.**

_November, 1975_

"Hey Evans." Lily looked up from her book to see Potter sitting on the back of the couch, looking down at her. He had his school bag slung casually over his shoulder.

"What's up, Potter?"

"Could you help with some Potions stuff?"

Lily sighed, looking longingly back at her copy of 1984. "Sure."

"Great." Potter hoped the back of the couch and landed beside her, placing his bag on the coffee table in front of them. "I started reading this chapter about the Wolfsbane Potion–"

"That's not in the text book." Lily said, placing her book beside Potter's bag.

"I found a mention of it in the _Prophet_ and looked it up in the library."

"You went to the library?" Lily asked, feigning shock.

Potter stuck out his tongue and sat down, pushing his glasses up as he said, "I was just wondering how exactly the thing is supposed to work."

"Do you have the book? I don't know much about the potion."

"Here." Potter pulled a medical magazine out of his school bag and handed it to her. She scanned it quickly while he unrolled a blank scroll and dipped his quill.

"Okay, what were you wondering?"

"What exactly is it? I don't remember a lot of those terms."

"Well, first of all, it's not an actual potion yet." Potter nodded and started to jot down what she was saying. "Right now, it's in a pre-processing phase. The inventors have made a public statement saying that they're working on this idea and that they've been given Ministry funding, so the project is authorized. What they hope the potion will be able to do, is to reverse the effects of lycanthropy. They hope that, with the right combination of ingredients, they can create a serum that will burn the infection and restore the body and mind. Sort of, wipe the slate clean and restore the body to its factory settings."

"What do you mean, 'factory settings'?" Potter asked, looking up from his notes.

"Well," Lily replied, "It would remove the disease and, hopefully, restore the body so that any effects that the disease had, like increasing a person's ability to see and hear, the serum would remove those abilities and make the person into a normal human being." Potter nodded, jotting it down. "The incredible thing about this study is that, if they succeed, this could do wonders for medical procedures. If they succeed in making a potion that wipes out lycanthropy, then they could tweak the serum to treat almost any disease."

"How long until it's done?"

"They think it will take five more years before its fit for public consumption."

"Shit."

"Why is that bad? It's amazing that they think it will only take five years. Usually, with something of this magnitude, they would take ten or fifteen."

"Ya, but I need this soon." Potter said, stuffing the parchment and quill back into his bag.

"Why? You're not a werewolf, are you? I mean, it's okay if you are–" Lily added hurriedly.

"I'm not." Potter assured her, standing up. He hesitated a fraction of a second before smoothly adding, "A friend was bitten. I was looking for anything that might help him."

"Here." Lily held the magazine out to him.

"Keep it." Potter said, "I don't need it anymore." He shouldered his bag and left the common room. Lily started to flip through the magazine and quickly became engrossed in an article on the newly discovered Greater Pepper-Up Potion, _1984_ lying forgotten beside her.

**.o.O.o.**

_How many girlfriends have you had?_

_**One. How many boyfriends?**_

_Three and an insane number of crushes. Scariest moment of your life?_

_**The fight at the start of this year. You?**_

_Falling through the ice in Backbridge Pond._

_**What's the story behind that?**_

_I was seven and Rory had convinced me and Petunia to go skating on Backbridge Pond. He insisted that it was safe, as long as you stayed away from the middle. Pet and I agreed, although, looking back, I have no idea why. Neither of us had skated all that much, and when we had, it was always on a manicured rink, not a little backwater pond. We also decided that it would be a __great__ idea not to tell the adults where we were going. Anyway, we got the pond and started skating around. Rory's a hockey player, one of the few in the neighbourhood, so he can skate with no problem, and it didn't take Pet long to find her ice legs either. I was terrified of falling, so I stuck to the reeds, but what Rory forgot to mention, is that they ice gets thin around the reeds. It cracked under my skates and I went through. Rory managed to pull me out while Pet ran back to the house. We got in __so__ much trouble. _

_**Who's Rory?**_

Lily hesitated before writing, _No one important._

**.o.O.o.**

"Today we will be continuing with human transfigurations." McGonagall said, sweeping into the classroom. "Bags to the side and turn desks into mirrors please. You all know how this works." Chairs scraped as the students hurried to pile their bags along the walls and transfigure the desks.

"This class'll be a piece of cake." Sirius muttered, levitating his mirror over to James's. James nodded, grinning.

"For you, maybe. I can't seem to get the hang of this stuff." Remus muttered, leaning heavily on his cane.

"Is that still bothering you?" Sirius asked, concerned, pointing to Remus's leg.

"It's just hurting a bit."

"Go to Mme Grafton. You could still injure it more, you know."

"I can't miss this class."

"We'll catch you up later." James said. "You should go to the Hospital Wing."

"Or at least let me put a pain relieving spell on it." Sirius offered.

"Like you know healing magic." Remus scoffed.

"Might I remind you who fixes everyone up after that furry little problem is done with us?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. Remus flushed and looked away.

"Stop, Remus." Peter said quietly.

"Stop what?"

"You look like you just killed somebody's grandmother." Sirius replied frankly. Remus pulled a face.

"It's not your fault, Remus. Nothing ever is." James muttered as McGonagall called, "Mr. Lupin? Care to answer the question?"

"Sorry Professor, I wasn't paying attention." Remus muttered.

"I noticed. Ten points fr–"

"Now, wait a minute!" Sirius called, daring to interrupt her. "That's not fair. We were talking to Remus. We were concerned about him."

"Oh, really, Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked. "And just what about him concerned you?"

"His leg." James said, catching on. "His leg is hurting him an awful lot, and we were trying to convince him to go to the Hospital Wing."

"Is that true, Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall turned to watch him, daring him to lie.

Remus squirmed. "Well, yes, but I don't want to miss this class. You can't exactly practice human transfiguration without a teacher around. You know, in case something goes wrong."

McGonagall scowled. "Mr. Lupin. Go to the Hospital Wing. And come see me at lunch to discuss how you will practice the spell."

Remus sighed and hobbled over to his bag. "Thanks." he muttered, annoyed, as he passed the other boys.

"Not a problem." Sirius replied cheerfully.

**.o.O.o.**

_December, 1975_

"Hiya Evans."

"Good morning Potter." Lily replied as he slipped onto the bench next to her at breakfast, Marlene sitting on his other side. She didn't really remember when it became usual for the four boys and Marlene to sit with Lily, Alice and Mary, but it had been going on for a while now. "Did you finish that Transfiguration essay?"

"Of course." Potter scoffed, reaching for the toast. "Piece of cake."

"Oh, god, I'd love some right now." Peter muttered.

"Cake for breakfast?" Mary asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Oh, a nice marble cake." Black agreed.

"Or some flapjacks." Remus said, looking forlornly at his bacon and eggs. "There are rarely any flapjacks or waffles anymore."

"Well, two weeks to go, and you can have a big stack of steaming flapjacks every day for breakfast for the whole of the Christmas hols." Alice replied.

**.o.O.o.**

"So, are you and Pete still planning on coming over during Christmas?" Marlene asked as they boarded the Hogwarts Express.

"Are we still welcome?" Remus asked.

"Of course. Don't be ridiculous."

"Well, we just thought you and James might want to spend the hols together. You know, alone."

Marlene stopped walking and turned to face him. "You mean that James and Sirius haven't told you?"

"Told me what?" Remus asked.

"Come on." Marlene grabbed his hand and dragged him into an empty compartment.

**.o.O.o.**

"Have you seen Remus and Mar anywhere?" Potter asked.

"Neither hair nor hide." Alice replied breezily, "But I do see my wonderful, amazing boyfriend. Ta, chickies. See you after the breaks." She waltzed over to Frank and they disappeared together into the crowd.

"They went ahead to find a compartment." Black answered Potter, heaving his trunk onto the train.

"I can't believe that you and Marlene are still together." Peter said, "She must really love you to have stayed faithful for four months." Lily felt a twinge at the word love.

She thought she might be getting sick. These days, whenever Potter smiled at Lily, or accidentally brushed her hand, she had some sort of physical reaction, either a blush, or a twinge, or a flop of some sort.

Black was staring at Peter oddly. "We never did talk to them about… that thing, did we?" he asked Potter.

"No, I don't think we did." Potter said after a moment of thought.

"Oops."

"Talk to them about what? Who's them?"

"Come on Peter." Potter said, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "Let's have a talk."

"What are they talking about?" Lily asked as she and Black made their way onto the train. Mary was staying at Hogwarts over the break.

"Ah, here we are." Black said, ignoring Lily's question. He pulled open the door just as Remus stood up and hugged Marlene saying, "Oh, god, that's amazing. I'm so happy for you."

Black cleared his throat and they jumped apart.

"I was just telling Remus that thing that you and James forgot to tell him and Peter."

"Ah, yes. That thing." Black agreed, nodding.

"What thing?" Lily asked, getting annoyed.

"Hello, lovelies." Potter said, entering the compartment, Peter trailing behind him in a daze. He looked and Marlene, blushed, and took one of the window seats, staring out at the platform. "Remus? Let's go for a walk."

"Marlene told him." Black said, taking the window seat across from Peter.

"Save's me the trouble." Potter said, sitting down and pulling Marlene to sit between him and Black.

"What is everyone talking about?" Lily practically yelled as Remus sat down beside Peter.

"Well, I suppose you may as well know." Marlene said, "I mean, everyone else does." She took a breath. "I'm gay."

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me. Okay, that rhymed… And remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in Italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 16**

_Christmas Break, 1975_

"Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Li–"

"_Shut up_ Rory. It's too early." Lily moaned, rolling over and ducking under her covers to avoid her mate.

Lily sat up suddenly, gasping. "It's Christmas." she whispered. "It's Christmas day!"

Rory laughed as Lily sprang out of bed, grabbed her dressing gown, and ran to her parents room to wake them up. He followed her out into the hall, listening as Lily woke her parents up and dragged them out of bed.

"What's going on?" Petunia asked groggily as she stuck her head out of her room.

"Merry Christmas!" Rory declared happily. Petunia glared and slammed her door shut. Rory just laughed happily. The Evans household was such fun on Christmas.

"Fine, fine, Lily." Susanna was saying, "We're up. Go get your sister out of bed and we'll do presents."

"You expect _me_ to get her out of bed?" Lily asked incredulously. "I'm not allowed in her room. I might turn her into a toad or something, remember?"

"Fine. Garth, wake Petunia up."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because I said so." Susanna declared, pulling on her dressing gown and slipping her feet into her slippers.

An hour later, they were all gathered in the living room, sitting on the floor or on the couch and chairs, each of them with a little pile of presents.

Lily quickly scanned her pile for presents from her friends and located ones from Alice, Mary, Remus, Marlene, Remus, Peter, Black, Potter, Dorcas Meadows, and Emmeline Vance. Dorcas and Emmeline were the other sixth year female prefects. Emmeline was Slytherin, but she was alright most of the time. Lily didn't have the usual Gryffindor prejudice against all Slytherins. Just _most _Slytherins. Actually, all Slytherins except Emmeline and Severus. Really, just Emmeline.

Lily quickly stashed the presents underneath the armchair behind her. She wasn't sure if they were alright to open in front of Rory. She hadn't told him she was a witch.

She glanced quickly up at Rory in time to see him opening the present from her. "Oh, neat! This is one of those old fashioned quills, ya? And an ink pot! That is so cool. Where did you find it?" Lily smiled. That had been easy to find. Rory had always liked antiques and old artifacts, and although the ink pot and quill were technically the newest styles from Flourish and Blots, he didn't know that.

"It was a little boutique I found in one of the shops in the village near my school." Lily replied vaguely. "I'm glad you like it."

Lily received a book about how to deal with unemployment from Petunia, which she promptly resolved to burn, but she relished the look on Petunia's face when she pulled a package of Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans, a Chocolate Frog and a package Drooble's Best Chewing Gum out of the box Lily had given her. Petunia had, on the previous six Christmas, watched Lily receive wizard sweets and knew exactly what they were. With a shriek, Petunia threw them across the room, scrambling to get as far away from them as possible while Lily fell into a helpless fit of giggles.

"Here Lily. Open this next." Susanna said, handing Lily an envelope. "It's from your father and I."

Lily smiled tentatively and, nervous for no reason at all, slit open the top of the envelope, and pulled out a few photographs. Lily glanced and them, blinked, and looked again.

"These are owls." She said, not understanding.

"Yes." Garth said, smiling. "We think it's time you got one."

"What?" Lily asked incredulously.

"We though you could write to a few of your friends and they could help you pick one." Susanna said.

"Are you sirius? No of course not, you're my mother. God, I've been spending too much time with Potter. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lily finally said, throwing her arms around her parents and hugging them tight while Rory muttered, "Why would she want an owl? Where would you even _get_ one?"

**.o.O.o.**

_You'll never guess what my parents got me for Christmas!_

James grinned. _**What did they get you?**_

_An owl! I'm going to go pick one from Eyelopes as soon as we can get into London. If I have my way, I'll be going down tomorrow!_

_**Are you going to ask anyone to help you pick one out?**_

_I was just going to go on my own and surprise them when we get back to Hogwarts._

_**Ah, always a good plan. How's your sister?**_

_Pain in the arse as usual. How're your parents?_

_**Wonderful. I'm so glad that they're done with field duty. **_

_Bet they're none to– _Lily looked up at the knock on her door.

"Come in."

"Hello, love." Rory said, coming in and shutting the door. "What's that?"

"Just homework." Lily replied, snapping the workbook shut before Rory could either read the writing or see the quill.

"Homework on Christmas Break?"

"Schools for geniuses tend to give a lot of homework." Lily shrugged.

"What subject?"

"Science. Transgenic Mutations."

"You have a course on Transgenic Mutations?"

"Ya. It's really cool. Right now, we're working on making trees that glow in the dark. To eliminate the need for street lamps, you know?"

"God, you're smart." Rory said. Lily felt her ring grow warm. "Do you want to go into London tomorrow?"

"Ya, I'd love to. I have a couple errands to run. I'll go see if mum can give us a drive."

"That wasn't what I meant." Rory said quietly as she grabbed her workbook and left the room. She didn't hear him.

**.o.O.o.**

"Lily, put down that damn workbook and come into the living room." Garth said, sticking his head into Lily's room, "It's New Years for Christ's sake, I think you can skip homework for the night."

"I'm not putting it away, but I'll bring it down with me." Lily replied, putting her quill down and grabbing one of her old-fashioned fountain pens. She followed her father down the stairs and sank into one of armchairs in the TV room.

"Lily," Susanna said quietly, squatting down beside her daughter, "Put your Transfiguration away and go talk with Rory. You've been ignoring him most of the break." Lily glanced over at Rory who looked extremely bored while Vernon talked at him about his plans for the future. Something about drills. Petunia was on his other side, hanging onto his every word.

"Have not." Lily replied, flicking her workbook open to the current page. Where was she? _**Shouldn't you be downstairs with them? **_"And, technically, it's not homework. I'm socializing with one of my school friends."

"Oh, really?" Susanna asked skeptically, "And who, exactly, are you socializing with?"

"Prongs." Lily replied, opening her pen and writing, _Well, I am now. Dad made me come downstairs._

"And you say this is a conversation?" Susanna said, turning the book so she could read it. She shook her head. "Don't lie to me Lily. This is talking about the long-term effects of splinching. Whatever that is." She pointed at Prongs's newest sentence, _**What happened to your ink? It looks weird.**_

Lily grabbed her book back. _I'm using a fountain pen. Vernon doesn't know I'm a witch, so the quill would be hard to explain._

_**Remind me again who Vernon is?**_

"Lily, put your homework away." Susanna said, yanking the book off Lily's lap, Lily's pen making an ugly streak.

"Mum," Lily cried, exasperated, "It's not homework. It just looks like that to you. It's a private conversation that neither me or Prongs want anyone else to read. There are a combination of spells, mainly illusion charms, Protean charms, and other complicated magical workings to prevent anyone else from reading what's in it. It took all four Marauders to put this setup into place, so I'll thank you not _yank_ my book and make me make marks all over it!"

"Charms?" Vernon spluttered. Lily looked up to see everyone staring at her.

"None of your bloody business, _Vermin_." Lily hissed, grabbing her book and pen, and storming back up to her room, her ring burning against her finger.

_**Are you alright? **_

_**Lily?**_

_**Lily, are you there?**_

_**Please tell me that streak doesn't mean Death Eaters or something. **_

_**Lily, if you don't answer in ten seconds, I'm going to owl the Ministry, or Dumbledore, or–**_

_It's fine. My mum jostled the book and made me slip. It's nothing._

_**Oh, thank god.**_

_You worry easily._

_**I always worry about you.**_

_Why?_

_**Because I–**_

"Lily, can I come in?" Rory asked, knocking on the door.

"Ya." Lily said, shutting the book and stowing it in her desk drawer.

"Are you okay?"

"Ya. Fine." Lily replied.

"Will you please come down? It's almost midnight." Rory said, with a little smile.

"Anything for you." Lily replied, getting up and following him down the stairs.

"Ten, nine, eight–" Lily heard the countdown drift up from downstairs. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Rory took her hand, and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Shouldn't we join them?" Lily asked.

"Seven, six, five–"

"Lily, I really need to say this." Rory said, taking her hands.

"What?"

"Four, three, two–"

"What is it?" Lily asked.

Rory gulped. "I love you."

"One!"

He leaned in, and softly pressed his lips to hers. She froze in surprise, before kissing him back. _Guess that childhood crush carried through to adolescence,_ she though wryly.

She couldn't help feeling a strange twinge of guilt as she felt her ring grow warm around her finger.

**.o.O.o.**

"Master James, sir, your mother has told Kapri to say to 'put that damn sketch book down, and socialize with the guests.'" the house elf quoted.

"Just a minute." James said, staring worriedly at the page. She still hadn't answered. _**Lily, if you don't answer in ten seconds, I'm going to owl the Ministry, or Dumbledore, or–**_

_It's fine._ Relief flooded his body as the words appeared on the page. _My mum jostled the book and made me slip. It's nothing._

_**Oh, thank god.**_

_You worry easily._ He could almost hear the teasing tone. James hesitated before writing, _**I always worry about you.**_

_Why?_

He took a deep breath. _**Because I love you.**_

"Master James, sir, you mother is most insisting, sir." Kapri squeaked.

"Alright, I'm coming." He glanced back at the page. No, this was a bad idea, a really bad idea. He grabbed his quill, scratched out his last sentence and scribbled, _**Never mind.**_ before shutting the pad and following Kapri down to the ballroom.

"There you are, darling." Theresa called, her eyes flashing with annoyance. "Go to Marlene. She's looking overwhelmed."

"Where's Sirius? He said he'd look after her."

"She's your girlfriend, so you should be looking after her." Theresa shoved him in the direction of Marlene, who was trying to free herself from the pack of boys surrounding her. "I believe Sirius is drunk." she added, before sweeping off, heading towards Mr. and Mrs. Abbott.

"Sorry, lads." James said, pushing through the crowd, "But I'd like a dance with the fair lady." He bowed elegantly, extending his hand. Marlene grinned, taking it and allowing James to escort her onto the floor.

"By the way, I've come up with a New Year's resolution." Marlene whispered as James pulled her close.

"Oh? And what is it?" he asked as they began to waltz.

"I'm going to come out." Marlene replied. "To the school. You'll be free of me soon, which will make Lily very happy."

"That's great, Marlene." James said happily.

"Just promise me something." Marlene said, spinning under his arm, and back into waltz position, "Promise that, as soon as we get back to school, you'll ask Lily to Hogsmeade."

"She won't say yes." James said.

"She will." Marlene insisted.

**.o.O.o.**

Lily smiled as she pulled the car smoothly into Kings Cross station, pleased that she had driven the whole two hours from Cokeworth with no issues.

"I'll give you a hand with your bag." Rory said, getting out and going around to the trunk.

Lily climbed out and walked over to her mother.

"Have a good term." Susanna said, hugging Lily. "Study hard, pass your exams, and win that House Cup and Quiddle Cup."

"Quidditch Cup." Lily corrected, smiling, "And we will if Potter and Black have anything to do with it."

"Come on." Rory said, handing her Lopez, her new snowy owl. He grabbed her trunk with one hand, and slung the other around her shoulders.

"Bye mum." Lily called, snaking her free arm around Rory's waist. Together, the two made their way into Kings Cross.

"This is your platform, ya?" Rory said, stopping at Platform 10 and putting her trunk down.

"Ya." Lily replied, setting Lopez on top of the trunk. "I'll see you at the end of term."

"Alright." Rory said, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss. "Love you." Lily closed her eyes and smiled when he said that. "I'll see you, ya?" and he was gone.

"I love you." Lily called after him, opening her eyes. She stayed where she was for a moment, staring at the spot where her boyfriend had disappeared. As she turned towards the platform, she thought she saw Potter, but when she looked back, he was gone.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: Oh, god. I am **_**so so**_** sorry that it's taken me so long to update. Things just sort of exploded with summative season. I apologize profusely, dear readers. Please don't hate me!**

**If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful!**

**Tapi**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me. Okay, that rhymed… And remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in Italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 17**

"What's wrong?" Marlene asked as soon as James stumbled into the train compartment. He was as white as a sheet and trembling lightly. "James, what's wrong?" she asked again, putting a hand on his arm.

"Lily." he whispered, sinking down onto the bench beside Marlene and putting his head in his hands. "She… she _kissed_ him. God, I can't believe it!"

"What?" Sirius asked, coming into the compartment.

"_She kissed him_." James whispered again, sounding sick and horrified. "How could she?"

"What's he mumbling about?"

"I think Lily kissed someone…" Marlene said, sounding as confused as Sirius.

"Who'd she kiss?" Sirius asked, sitting beside James.

"I don't know, some muggle filth." James spat out. Sirius's eyes widened and Marlene moved away from James as though he had the plague.

"What did you just say?" Sirius breathed, utterly stunned.

"She was kissing a stupid, idiotic muggle." James amended.

"For a minute there, I thought you were turning into a pure blood." Sirius said, getting a firmer grip on the seat as the train lurched and began to pull away from the station, causing the compartment to sway.

"I can't bloody believe it." James said, lurching to standing, suddenly angry. "How _could_ she?"

"How could she kiss someone who isn't you?" Marlene asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes." James said, whirling to face her.

"How could you kiss someone who isn't her?"

"That's different." James yelled, whirling to face Sirius.

"How?"

"Because I'm me, and she's her and its just different, okay?"

"I don't see what the big deal is. She kissed a bloke, so what? She's kissed other blokes." Sirius shrugged.

"She's never loved the other blokes. She loves this one." James whispered, sinking back down to the bench.

"How do you know?" Marlene asked, edging near him and putting her arm around his shoulder.

"She said so."

"Oh. That does make it rather different then."

"What makes what rather different?" Evans asked, following Remus into the compartment. James glared at her and looked away.

"It's nothing." Sirius said, casting a nervous glance at James. "Um, Evans? Let's go chat."

"About what?" Lily asked as Black took hold of her elbow and escorted her out the compartment.

"Look, this is sort of weird and awkward," Black said quickly, "But maybe it would be better if you gave James a bit of breathing room?"

"Breathing room?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Ya. Just, just… Just leave him be for a while."

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to." Black said kindly, "Please, Evans? For his sake. Just leave him be for a while."

"Alright." Lily sighed. "I'll go sit with Alice."

**.o.O.o.**

_Hey._

_You there?_

_Prongs?_

_Pro-ongs…_

_Come out, come out where ever you are…_

_Prongs?_

_Come on, answer._

_Prongs?_

_Are you okay?_

_Why won't you answer me?_

_Prongs!_

_Shit._

**.o.O.o.**

"Post!" someone called. For the first time since Black had asked her to leave Potter alone two weeks ago Lily smiled, catching sight of Lopez, her new owl.

"Hello beautiful." Lily crooned as Lopez landed on the table in front of her. "What've you got for me? _Two_ letters?" Lily asked, taking the envelopes from her owl.

_My beautiful, sweet, darling, love-r-ly, Lily-kins:_

_How are you darling? I'm great! We just started the new school term, and I have to say, maths are bloody awful. I mean, when am I ever going to need to use the equation for the circumference of a circle in my life? I asked my teacher what the real life applications were of being able to do the cube root formula by hand without a calculator and he gave me detention. Absolutely ridiculous!_

Lily laughed as she read through the rest of Rory's letter. He was extravagantly sentimental and sappy, making her laugh as he had intended. She was still grinning when she folded the letter and put it away, accidentally catching Potter's eye as he glared at her.

Lily felt the smile fade and she looked away, blushing. She shook her hair into her face to create a physical barrier between herself and Potter's glare.

Lily couldn't help wondering what she had done wrong…

**.o.O.o.**

_February, 1976_

"Today," Slughorn said, "You are all going to work in pairs to create your own potions. You will be making any sort of potion that you like, but it must not be made from a recipe. Partners." Slughorn pulled a small leather bag out of his robes. "This contains the names of all the girls in the class. Boys will select a name." Some of the students groaned and Slughorn began making his way around the room.

"Oh, wonderful. I've got Bulstrode." Black grimaced. "Who've you got?"

"Tina Lu." Remus replied, showing Black the slip of paper. James saw Evans look over at them, and then away.

"Mr. Potter?" Slughorn said, extending the bag. James fished around and drew out a piece of paper. _Miranda Davis_. Peter drew next and paled immediately.

"Switch with me." he hissed to James desperately as soon as Slughorn was out of earshot.

"Why?"

"She terrifies me."

"Fine." James sighed, switching papers. He half wanted to laugh when he read the name. _Lily Evans_. "She terrifies you?"

"She's bloody brilliant at potions, and I'm rubbish." Peter said, grabbing his things and heading over to Miranda Davis's table.

James looked at the slip of paper, and then up at the red-head, sitting with her back to him. "Shit." He grabbed his bag, and made his way over

"Let's just get this over with." Potter said, sitting down without looking at her.

"I didn't realize I was suddenly such a burden to work with." Lily replied, pulling her potions book towards her. Potter grimaced.

"What sort of potion do you want to do?"

"Doesn't matter." Potter replied, pulling out a scrap piece of parchment and starting to doodle on it. "You decide."

"What about an emotion potion?"

"Whatever you want."

"Defeat sound good?"

"Evans," Potter said sharply, finally looking up at her, "I really don't care. Pick a bloody potion and make it."

"Fine." Lily replied angrily. She grabbed a roll of parchment and started brainstorming ideas.

Half way through class, she looked over at Potter. "Are you planning to help?"

"No." he replied.

"Wonderful." Lily turned back to the potion as the classroom door opened.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor." a breathless voice said, "I was talking with the Headmaster."

"That's perfectly alright Mr. Snape, although I'm not sure what to do with you. We're working in pairs you see, and–"

"Professor?" Lily called, "Sev could join me." Potter's head shot up and he stared at her in horror. "Potter's refusing to help, and I could use the extra pair of hands."

"Ah, good, good. Why don't you join Miss Evans?" Sev nodded and came over, giving Lily a small smile. "Mr. Potter? A word, if you don't mind."

"Thanks, Evans." Potter growled, before standing and joining Slughorn at the front of the dungeon.

"Hey." Sev said quietly, setting his bag down on the counter.

"Hi. So, we're making a potion that creates the emotion defeat." Lily said, turning back to lycon wings she was slicing.

"Do you want to take it a step further?" Sev asked.

"Meaning?"

"The taste of defeat." he said excitedly. "People 'taste defeat' so often in books and things, why not make it an actual taste?"

"Do you think we could?"

"Easily." Sev nodded. "It's described as bitter, and hopeless. We use the right amount of bitterroot to get the bitter part, and we can use a variation of the Despair recipe to get hopelessness..."

"You know, it could work." Lily said, starting to smile. She had forgotten this part of Severus, the part that always pushed her to try new things and have adventures. "If we add Solidifying Solution to it, we could get it out of a liquid form."

Sev grinned. "Let's get started."

**.o.O.o.**

_March, 1976_

"Miss Evans?" Lily looked up from her essay in surprise to see Professor McGonagall kneeling down in front of her. She blinked. McGonagall never came into the common room. Never. What the hell was going on? "Come with me, Miss Evans. We need to have a talk with the Headmaster."

Lily blushed a brilliant red as she shoved her things into her bag and mumbled, "I'll just run this upstairs."

"What's up?" Mary asked as Lily rushed into the dorm room and stuffed her bag into the clothes chest at the end of her bed.

"Don't know, really. McGonagall came into the common room and said that she and I need to go have a chat in Dumbledore's office."

"McGonagall came into the common room?" Mary repeated incredulously.

"Ya." Lily grimaced, "I guess I'm in trouble or something, but I really don't know what it could possibly be about." Her mind flashed to the Mirror of Erised, hidden and tucked away, but she shook her head. It couldn't be that.

"Come along Miss Evans." McGonagall said kindly as Lily came down from the dorm room. Lily couldn't help thinking how odd it was that McGonagall was being so kind. She was never this outwardly kind. Never.

_I suppose today's a day for firsts,_ Lily thought following McGonagall out through the portrait hole.

"Is something the matter, Professor?" Lily asked as she hurried after McGonagall through the hallways of the school.

"I'll let the Headmaster explain." McGonagall said as the entrance to Dumbledore's office came into view. "Junior Mints." she said and the staircase began to spiral up. Lily hurriedly stepped onto it and then into Dumbledore's office followed quickly by McGonagall.

"Ah, Miss Evans, Professor." Dumbledore said quietly, looking up from the letter in front of him as Lily entered. "Have a seat, Lily."

"What's this about, Headmaster?" Lily asked sitting in the proffered chair. "Am I in trouble?"

"Not at all Miss Evans," Dumbledore assured her with a sad smile, exchanging a glance with Professor McGonagall. "But I'm afraid that I have some very bad news." He held out the letter. Lily read the first line and stopped breathing.

**.o.O.o.**

"Oi, Potter!" James turned to see Alice Payne stalking down the hall towards him.

"What do you want, Payne?" he demanded. Although he was technically angry only with Evans for loving someone else, he had also been studiously ignoring her roommates as well.

"Where's Lily?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Because you're Potter. You always know where Lily is."

James scoffed and turned away, continuing his walk down the hall.

"Can you at least help us find her?" Payne called after him.

"Why would I?" James asked over his shoulder before slipping behind a tapestry and into a hidden corridor to take a short cut to the quidditch pitch. He hurried through and coming out the other side bumped into someone, accidentally knocking them down. "Sorry." he said automatically, reaching down to help them up.

"Sod off." Lily sniffed, pushing away his hand and standing up. Professor McGonagall, who had just stepped off the rotating stair leading to the Headmasters office, pursed her lips, but said nothing. Lily brushed a quick hand across her cheeks and shook her hair forwards to conceal her face.

"What's wrong?" James asked, immediately forgetting his anger and her and becoming alarmed. Lily almost never cried. He gently took hold of Lily's arm and turned her towards him.

"None of your bloody business Potter." Lily practically yelled, jerking out of his hold and glaring at him with red, watery eyes. She turned on her heel and stalked off towards Gryffindor Tower. McGonagall shot him a glare as she hurried to catch up with Lily. Gently, she put an arm around the girl's shoulders and started whispering quietly to her. James heard Lily sob as her tears came back full flow.

Evans pushed past McGonagall and ran up to her dorm. James debated for a moment and then ran after her.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I like reviews. Reviews are nice. They motivate me to write… wink, wink, nudge, nudge. One word, that's all I'm asking!**

**Tapi**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me. Okay, that rhymed… And remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in Italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 18**

"Wait." Potter called, running after Lily. "Lily, stop!" She ignored him, mumbling the password to the Fat Lady and dashing up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. "Lily, please." She heard Potter yell after her as he stopped at the bottom of the staircase. Lily slammed the door shut and leaned against it, fresh tears leaking down her cheeks.

She looked around the empty dormitory with its bright red and gold decorations and the personal photographs tacked above each bed and couldn't help wondering why the room had any right to look so cheerful and lived in, with the cloths strewn across the floor and muggle make-up products pilled haphazardly on the bedside tables.

As she leaned against the door, silent tears running down her cheeks, she felt her ring grow warm. She stared at it dumbly for a moment before slowly dragging out her Hogwarts trunk and rifling around in the bottom of it for the workbook.

Lily had seriously considered getting rid of the thing once it became clear that Prongs was ignoring her but somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to. Instead, she had shoved the book into the bottom of her trunk and tried her hardest to forget about it.

"There!" Lily exclaimed, pulling the book out of the bottom of her trunk. She flipped through the pages until she found the most recent sentence.

_**Are you okay?**_

Lily glared at the page and grabbed a quill out of her bag.

_What, you're suddenly talking to me again?_

_**I'm sorry. **_

_Really? That's nice._

_Go away._

_**Lily, I'm really, really, sorry.**_

_Don't believe you._

_**Please. Talk to me. I saw you crying. Tell me what's wrong. **_

_Shut up, go away, and leave me alone._

_**I am sorry, Lily. Please, you have to believe me.**_

_No. I don't __have__ to do anything Prongs. __Go away__._

Lily shut the book and tossed it onto the floor before curling up on her bed, pulling her blankets up around her. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to flow silently onto the pillow.

She started as a soft knock sounded on the door.

"Who is it?" Lily sniffed, wiping a hand across her cheeks.

"Please let me in." a soft voice whispered. Lily went over to the door and cracked it open to see Potter standing there, looking worried.

"What do you want?" Lily asked, glaring.

"Are you okay?" he replied, ignoring her question.

"Why do you _suddenly _care?"

"I've always cared." Potter replied with a sad smile, "Can I come in?" Lily glared again, but stepped away from the door. She walked over to her trunk and tried to lift it onto the mattress. Potter took the other end and, together, they succeeded.

"What's this for?" he asked as they set it down.

"None of your bloody business." Lily muttered nastily, opening the clothes chest at the end of her bed and beginning to pile everything into her trunk.

"Are you packing?"

Lily ignored him and started sifting through the piles of dirty clothes scattered about the floor, picking out her belongings.

"Lily," Potter said, taking her by the shoulders and turning her around to face him, "Why are you packing?"

"I dunno," Lily replied sarcastically, "Maybe because I'm leavening?" She pushed past Potter and threw her handful of clothes onto of the pile that was already there.

"What?" Potter exclaimed. "Why the hell are you doing that?"

"Why. Do. You. Care?" Lily yelled back, whirling to face him. "Why do you _suddenly_ care? You haven't given a damn about me since we got back from Christmas. All of a sudden, you were avoiding me like I was the Black Plague and now you _oh, so suddenly_ give a damn, and expect me to just open up to you and pour out my heart and soul. Tell you everything that's wrong as though nothing happened. Well, you know what, James Potter? It doesn't bloody well work that way." Lily advanced on Potter, backing him up against a wall, not noticing the tears streaming down her face. "You don't get to waltz up to me and expect us to be friends after ignoring me for three months!"

"I didn't ignore you." Potter protested weakly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're right." Lily said sarcastically, "You didn't ignore me. No, you just glared at me and made me feel like _shit_ whenever I was near you."

"I'm sorry." Potter whispered.

"I don't need to deal with you right now on top of everything else." Lily's voice broke on those last words.

"Should I go?" Potter asked at the same time that Lily broke down, sobbing. Carefully and unsurely, Potter reached out and put his arms around Lily, gently guiding her to the bed and sitting down, pulling her onto his lap. Lily curled up, burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing into his robes. "What happened?" Potter whispered, gently placing a kiss on the top of Lily's head.

"My father died." Lily whispered brokenly, "He died in a car crash."

"Oh, Lily." Potter said, hugging her tighter. "You're going home for the funeral?"

"That's why I was packing." Lily replied. She sighed and stood up, walking over to her bedside table to gather her things together.

"But why are you packing everything?" Potter asked, confused.

"I don't know when I'm coming back." Lily replied, "Mum might need me. Petunia isn't much good at comforting."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, it would be nice to have a friend at the funeral." Lily said, glancing at him. "I don't know why I said that. Rory'll be there. Never mind."

"Lily, do you want me to come?" Potter asked.

"A bit." Lily admitted.

"Then I will."

"Thanks, James."

James smiled. "I thought it was Potter."

"And I thought it was Evans." she replied with a smile.

"I take it I'm forgiven?"

"Only if you tell me how you got up here." Lily replied. "Boys aren't supposed to be able to get into the girls dormitory."

**.o.O.o.**

"Professor?" James asked, knocking on the doorframe to McGonagall's office. She looked up.

"What is it, Mr. Potter?"

"Can I talk to the Headmaster?"

"He's not here, Mr. Potter."

"I know. But I don't know how to get into his office."

"What is this about?"

"Lily Evans." James replied, stepping into the office. "She wants me to come with her to the funeral."

"I was not aware that the two of you were acting amicably towards each other."

"It's recent." James mumbled.

McGonagall sighed. "We usually don't allow students to leave the school premises during the school year, aside from Hogsmeade of course. In any case, the matter isn't even up for discussion until we receive express, written permission from you parents."

"If I they give permission, can I go with her?"

McGonagall pursed her lips. "We shall see. If you get permission, then I will bring the matter to the Headmaster's attention. Until then, I believe you have a test in my class tomorrow to prepare for?"

**.o.O.o.**

_Mum and Dad:_

_I have a friend who's just lost a family member. She's really upset and needs a friend right now. The only problem is, she's going home for the funeral and won't have a friend there since all her friends are at Hogwarts. She's asked if I can accompany her home._

_I've spoken with Professor McGonagall and she says that she can't consider Lily's request until she sees written permission from you. Can I go?_

_Love, James._

_P.S. Yes, Lily Evans._

_Dear Minerva:_

_Jamie has written to us about his discussion with you in regards as to whether or not he will be permitted to accompany Ms. Evans to the funeral. Barry and I have discussed the matter and we have no issues with it as long as his grades are in good order and that they stay that way. We leave the final decision in your capable hands._

_Sincerely,_

_Theresa Potter_

**.o.O.o.**

"This," Dumbledore said to James and Lily, who were standing in front of his desk, looking at the stick sitting on it. "Is your portkey. It will take you to the park near your house, Lily. Now, get a firm grip on it. Do not let go." Dumbledore reminded them sternly, "No matter what, do not let go of this stick." James nodded, seeing Lily do the same out of the corner of his eye. He reached out and took hold of the portkey, brushing Lily's hand lightly as he did. She looked up and gave him a wan smile. "Get a good grip on your trunks." Dumbledore said, looking at his pocket watch, "You will be going in three, two, one."

Dumbledore's office disappeared with a rushing sound. James felt like a hook just behind his navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. His feet left the ground. He could feel Lily on one side, her shoulder banging into his. His hand was stuck to the stick as it pulled them, speeding them forwards with a howl of wind.

His feet slammed into the ground. James stumbled, letting go of the stick and his suitcase. He tripped over a root and landed roughly on the ground. He grunted in pain as Lily somehow managed to land on top of him.

"Sorry." Lily cried, scrambling to her feet, "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"It's fine." James laughed, sitting up. "I'm not hurt. Are you alright?"

"Yes." Lily said as James pushed himself to standing, looking around as he did.

The portkey had landed them in a small copse of trees just outside an empty park. It was night time, so the park was deserted and the trees gave them cover and protected them from the peering eyes of the people in the houses that backed onto the park.

"Wow." James said, stepping out of the trees to get a better look at the park. He stared in happiness at the little playground and the neighbouring field. It was so quaint peaceful looking.

"Do you like it?" Lily asked, coming up beside him.

"It's wonderful."

"Come on." Lily smiled, turning around, taking hold of her trunk and dragging it over to the side walk. James grabbed his trunk and followed her, glancing around with delight as he took in the cars, stop signs and streetlamps.

"It's just down here." Lily said as they turned onto a lane. At the entrance to it stood a dark house, with the curtains drawn tightly shut and boards across a few of them. The yard was a mess, empty bottles of alcohol littering the front yard. James thought that they looked a lot like Firewiskey bottles. Lily's expression saddened a bit as they passed it.

"Who lives there?" James whispered, nodding his chin towards the house.

"The Snapes."

"Oh." James replied, puzzle pieces beginning to click into place. "Did … did you two grow up together?"

Lily sighed. "Sort of."

"So," James swallowed, feeling a little awkward, "You weren't just friends with him to annoy me?"

"What!?"

"Well, everyone always said that you were only friends with him because I didn't like him!" James hurried to add.

"That is not true!" Lily said, stopping and turning to face James. "I was friends with Severus long before I even knew you existed, let alone cared!"

"So, that why you and Snape were friends?" James wasn't sure whether or not he should feel disappointed.

Lily gaped at him. "NO!"

"Oh … Then why were you?"

"He was the first person to tell me about my magic. We met before I even knew Hogwarts existed. I was ten. We spent as much time as we could together and he explained all about the magical world to me." Lily smiled a little as she recalled how wonderful those days had been.

"So … he wasn't always a disgusting slimy git?"

"NO!" Lily exclaimed, torn from her reveries. She glared at James. "And I'll admit that he's a git, but he isn't disgusting and slimy."

"Okay." James said, half laughing, and clearly insincere.

"Let's just get to the house." Lily grumbled, starting back down the street.

"How far is it?"

"Just here." Lily turned into the driveway of a pretty little Tudor house with a white picket fence and grey stucco walls.

"It looks so peaceful." James said, glancing over the flower beds. Lily smiled tightly.

"They were my father's. Mum can't stand gardening, so Dad would come out here in his free time." Lily said thickly. "I don't know what'll happen to them now." James transferred his trunk into his other hand and put his arm around her. Lily unconsciously leaned her head on his shoulder. They stayed there for a moment, looking at the roses before Lily said, "Come on." and walked up to the front door. James watched in fascination as she rang the doorbell.

"What's that?"

"The doorbell?" Lily asked confused, "It makes a bell sound inside the house so that the people in the house know that there's someone at the door."

"How does it make sound?" James asked, leaning in a little to look at the little glowing button.

"I'm not really sure." Lily said just as her mother pulled open the front door.

"Lily?"

"Hi mum." Lily said, smiling slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Evans asked in a confused tone.

"Professor Dumbledore sent me home for the funeral."

"Dum…"

"Professor Dumbledore." James said, "The Headmaster."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry. Mum, this is James. He's one of my friends from school. James, this is my mother, Susanna Evans."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Evans." James said, extending his hand, "I'm just here for emotional support."

"James…?" Mrs. Evans said, taking his hand.

"Potter." Mrs. Evans's eyes widened slightly, and she cast a quick glance at her daughter. Lily blushed slightly and shook her hair into her face to try to hide it.

"Well, Mr. Potter, welcome to our home. And please, call me Susanna."

"James." he replied with a charming smile, shaking her hand firmly.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I like reviews. Reviews are nice. They motivate me to write… wink, wink, nudge, nudge. One word, that's all I'm asking!**

**Tapi**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me. Okay, that rhymed… And remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in Italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 19**

"Lily." Susanna said, gently shaking her shoulder. Lily grumbled and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "Lily, it's time to get up."

"Mmh."

"We need to be at the church in two hours." Susanna reminded her before getting up and leaving the room, deliberately leaving the door wide open.

"Shut the door." Lily called out. "Mum. _Shut the door_!" Susanna didn't answer or come back. Lily groaned and rolled out of bed, got up and shut the door herself. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned.

"Lily. Are you up yet?"

"Yes, mum." Lily yelled back. She grabbed her towel and bathrobe and headed across the hall into the bathroom.

She brushed her teeth quickly and hopped into the shower. She had forgotten to braid her hair the night before, so it was hopeless rats-nest of tangles that took what felt like an hour to untangle, but was, in reality, only fifteen minutes. After she finished washing her hair and face, she just stood under the shower head for a few minutes, letting the warm water run over her back and ease the knots that had formed from hauling her trunk around the day before.

Lily sighed and shut off the water, pulling her towel around her before she stepped out of the shower. She dried off quickly and slipped into her robe, wrapping her towel around her head before opening the door to return to her room. "Oh, sorry." she said as she bumped into James.

"That's fine. Uh, do you have a towel I could use?"

"Ya, sure." Lily said, going over to the hall cupboard and pulling out one of the spare towels. "Here." she said, handing it to him. She couldn't help thinking that he looked really attractive in the morning. His hair was even messier than usual, and his glasses were sitting crookedly on his nose. Lily's finger's itched to straighten them, but she restrained herself.

"Thanks." James said, bringing Lily's focus back to the conversation.

"No problem." Lily replied, smiling. James turned and walked into the bathroom and Lily went back to her bedroom. She dressed quickly in black nylons, a simple black dress, and short black boots. She kept her makeup sparse as well, just foundation, eyeliner, mascara and clear lip-gloss. She didn't think it would be right to look especially fancy for her father's funeral.

Lily looked up as she heard three light taps on her window. It was a Ministry owl, a copy of that day's copy of _The Daily Prophet_ clutched in its beak.

Lily hurried to the window and threw open the sash. The owl fluttered in and dropped the paper on the desk before landing beside it. It fixed Lily with an impatient stare as it ruffled its feathers importantly. Lopez hooted at it from her cage.

Lily smiled and scooped up the bronze knuts that she had set aside the night before when she had unpacked. Lily slipped the money into the pouch attached to the owl's leg and unfolded the paper as the owl fluttered out the window.

_Death Eaters Attack Penthallow_

_Last week on Friday, March 19__th__, 1976 a band of twenty Death Eaters attacked the wizarding town of Penthallow. They attacked at 3:00 am, encircling the town and working their way towards the centre of the town, slaughtering every wizard, witch and child that they found along the way and spraying the buildings with Fiendfyre._

_The Death Eaters casting the spells were advanced enough to be able to control the fire and so it did not spread into the neighboring muggle town of Cokeworth._

Lily stopped and re-read the last sentence. Shit.

"Lily!" Susana called, "We're going to be late!"

"Coming." Lily yelled back. She grabbed her wand and ran down the stairs sticking her wand in her boot as she went.

"Lily." Susana scolded as soon as she saw her daughter, "Go back upstairs this instant and put that damn stick away."

"But mum–" Lily protested, thinking of the article.

"Now Lily."

Lily turned on her heel and ran up the stairs while Petunia smirked from the kitchen. When she got to her room, she quickly scanned the floor. She remembered seeing a purse somewhere when she was unpacking – her closet!

Lily pulled the door open quickly and yanked out her trunk and there it was. Not a particularly nice purse, but it was black and big enough for her wand. She quickly stuffed her wand into it before heading out of her room, bumping into James for the second time that morning.

Lily blinked in surprise as she took in the suit he was wearing. It was a typical black muggle suit and bowtie, nothing special, but Lily couldn't help thinking that he looked _good_ in it, his hair still wet from his attempts to tame it and his square glasses sitting crookedly on his nose.

"Lily," James said, running his hand worriedly through his hair and sounding panicked, "Your mother is insisting that I leave my wand here."

"She's making me leave mine to."

"Did you read the _Prophet_ this morning?"

"Yes."

"So you know that we can't leave them here." James said seriously, a slight frown creasing his forehead in the most ador-

"I'm bringing mine in here." Lily said, abruptly cutting off her train of thought, and lifting the purse a little. "Do you want me to carry yours?"

"I'd appreciate it." James replied, looking relieved. Lily smiled, took his wand and stowed it in her purse and together the two of them descended the stairs.

"Finally." Susanna said as they came reached the bottom. "Come on, you two. Petunia's already in the car. And Lily," she added, turning and leading the way out of the house, "Talk to Rory if you can. He's had a tough time with his parents."

"Not as tough a time as I've had." Lily murmured morosely.

"Who's Rory?" James asked curiously. He vaguely remembered her saying something about a Rory to him via sketchbook.

"No one important." Lily muttered as she walked around to left side and climbed into the backseat.

"So this is a car?" James asked as he slid into the backseat next to Lily.

"You've never seen one before?" Lily asked.

"I've seen them, but I've never been in one." James corrected as Susanna began to back out of the driveway. Lily felt him tense beside her and he grabbed tightly onto the door, his other hand scrabbling on the seat to find something to hold onto.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked, alarmed, taking his hand. He held onto it with a death grip.

"It's moving." he whispered.

Lily laughed. "Yes. It's supposed to. You should do up your seatbelt."

"My what?"

"Seatbelt. Here." Lily unbuckled and leaned across him to take hold of his seatbelt. She pulled it across and clicked it into place. "There." Lily said as the car lurched to the left, throwing her into James. She looked up and froze. Their faces were inches apart. Lily gulped. "Um…"

"Lily, put your seatbelt back on this instant." Susanna scolded. Lily flushed and slid over to the other side of the car and buckled quickly. She turned her head away from James, looking out the window, trying not to think about how electric it had felt to be so close to him.

**.o.O.o.**

Lily stood at the front of the church with her mother and Petunia, smiling sadly at the friends who came up to the coffin to say goodbye to her father before the wake started.

"It's just awful. So unexpected." said Mrs. White, who lived in the house next to the Evans. "You let me know if there's anything that I can do for you anything at all." Lily smiled tightly, while Susanna said, "That's very sweet. Thank you."

"It's the least I can do after everything you did when Gerald passed. It's a shame. Such a shame." Mrs. White said, shaking her head sadly. She placed a gentle hand on the edge of the open coffin before turning around and walking down the steps towards the pews. As she did, the Worlings stepped forwards to offer their condolences, and the pattern repeated itself. Lily sighed tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Susana whispered.

"As well as can be expected." Lily replied as the Worlings moved on and Vernon Dursley stepped forwards. He went directly to Petunia and wrapped her in an awkward embrace. Petunia dissolved into tears, which Lily was certain were half for show. She wrinkled her lip in disgust and turned her attention to the back of the church where James was standing with her purse where he had been cornered by Mrs. White.

Lily smiled slightly at the picture they made. James standing awkwardly while the old lady talked on and on, most certainly about her late husband. James seemed to sense her gaze on him and looked up, meeting her eyes. He smiled in return.

"Hi, Lily." Rory said, coming up beside her and pulling her attention away from James.

"Hi." Lily said, stepping into his arms for a hug. She pulled out of the hug and gave him a quick peck, not wanting to cause the same scene that Petunia and just enacted.

"How are you doing?" he asked as she pulled away.

"As well as can be expected." Lily sighed in reply. "Come on, lets get something to drink." She took his hand and led him to the back of the church where there were jugs of water and lemonade set out with some cups and little munchies.

As they walked near James, Lily thought that she saw him zip her purse closed and slip something into his suit jacket, but she wasn't sure. James excused himself from Mrs. White and made his way towards them.

"Here, Lily." James said, handing Lily her purse.

"Thanks." she replied. Lily thought she saw some emotion flicker across James's eyes when his gaze turned to Rory, but it was so fleeting that she wasn't even sure it had happened, let alone what it had meant. "This is Rory."

"'Not-important-Rory?" James asked. Lily blushed as Rory raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her.

"He was bugging me about who you were and I didn't feel like detailing our relationship so I just said, 'No one important.'" Lily said defensively, "It was just an excuse not to go into a conversation. You know how important you are to me. We wouldn't be dating if you weren't." The something flashed across James's eyes again.

"And who are you anyway?" Rory asked hostilely, looking James over with a faint look of disdain.

"James Potter."

"What?" Rory asked.

"James Potter. I'm one of Lily's friends from school."

"One of her friends?"

"What? You don't think she can have friends that you don't approve of?"

"No, she can be friends with whoever she wants, I just didn't think that she'd ever want to be friends with the boy who dipped her braids in his inkwell when she was twelve." Rory replied with a smirk. "If I recall correctly, that wasn't all you did either. You've also locked her in numerous cupboards, pushed her into the lake quite a few times, stolen her homework, put spices in her morning orange juice, thrown food at her and, worst of all, bullied Severus for years on end."

James was quite pale by now and Lily could see his fingers twitching towards his suit coat. She quickly felt her purse and, sure enough, his wand wasn't in it. Thankfully, at that moment, Susanna came over.

"Lily, come on. The service is about to start."

"Alright." Lily replied. "Coming."

Lily followed her mother down to the front pew, taking a seat on the edge closest to the wall. She had never liked sitting near the centre of the church for some reason. It felt stifling, like the priest was trying to worm his way into her consciousness so that he could conform her to his every wish.

Lily felt Rory sit down next to her. She knew without turning her head that he was glaring at James, daring him to come and sit next to them, but James just turned around and walked back a few rows before choosing a pew.

The memorial service was a blur of memories and tears. Before long, the congregation was walking behind the coffin bearers out to the graveyard and Garth Evans was laid to rest. The majority of the guests went home after that, but there was a small dinner with the neighbours back at the Evans's house. Both Garth and Susana had been only children and their parents had died when Lily and Petunia were young so there wasn't any family left aside from Susana and the two girls. Rory stayed for the dinner as well, and he seemed particularly annoyed when he realized that James was staying with the Evans's.

After confronting James before the service, Rory had maintained a cool distance. He had also tried to get Lily to explain why she was suddenly friends with "that awful Potter boy," as she had often described him over the previous summers, but all she could say by way of explanation was, "It just happened."

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I like reviews. Reviews are nice. They motivate me to write… wink, wink, nudge, nudge. One word, that's all I'm asking!**

**Tapi**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me. Okay, that rhymed… And remember: **_**Prongs**_ **writes in Bold and Italics and **_Lily _**only writes in Italics**.

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 20**

Finally the guests left. As soon as the door closed behind the last of them, Petunia whirled towards Lily.

"When I die, don't even bother coming to the funeral if you're going to pull a stunt like that!" Petunia yelled.

"Why is it such a big deal that I gave Dad a little bottle of Draught of Peace?" Lily cried in exasperation, "One of Dad's favorite things to do was watch me make potions so it makes sense to bury him with one! You gave him roses!"

"Roses are _normal_! No normal person makes potions in the basement like a deranged scientist."

"Calm down, both of you!" Susanna yelled, "We just _buried_ your father and now you two are at it like nothing has happened. Go to your rooms and don't come out until you're ready to be civil."

"But Vernon's–" Petunia started to protest.

"Go!" Petunia cast a glare at Lily and pushed past her and ran up the stairs. Lily followed slowly, quietly closing the door to her room as soon as she was in it.

James watched Lily go with a look of concern.

"I'm so sorry that you had to see that." Susanna sighed tiredly.

"That's okay. Do you need any help?" James asked as Susanna went into the kitchen to clean the dishes.

"No, no. That's fine." she replied.

"Alright." James walked to the guest room where he was staying and rummaged through his trunk, pulling out the school books that he had brought. He flopped onto the floor and pulled the top book towards him, _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6_ by Miranda Goshawk. As he did, he noticed that the second book in the stack was his sketchbook.

James hesitated for a moment before putting _The Standard Book of Spells_ to the side and opening the sketchbook to a blank page. He grabbed a quill and inkwell from his trunk and wrote,

_**Please talk to me.**_

He had to wait five minutes before Lily's answer appeared, letter by letter:

_Why?_

_**Because I'm a friend and you're upset.**_

_How would you know I'm upset?_

_**You just buried your father. How could you not be?**_

_How did you know that?_

_**Marauder.**_

_Naturally._

_**Listen, Lily, I'm really sorry.**_

_You're starting to sound like a broken record._

_**A what?**_

_A record. It plays music. When it's broken, it does something called skipping, where it goes over and over the same part of a song without moving on. In your case, "I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry," etc._

_**Ah.**_

_**Well, I don't know any other way to put it.**_

_**I apologize?**_

_For what?_

_**You mean I'm forgiven?**_

_No, I mean, do you even know what you're apologizing for? It's all very well to say that you're sorry, but you haven't actually made a proper apology._

_**Oh. Well, in that case:**_

_**My dearest Lily Evans, **_

_**I apologize most sincerely for ignoring you without due cause or explanation. It was un-called for and rude, almost unforgivably so. I do hope that you can find it in your sweet, caring heart to forgive me. If you cannot, I fear that I shall die of regret, for yours is a friendship that I treasure deeply.**_

_**Yours most affectionately, **_

_**Messer Prongs**_

…

_**How was that?**_

_Dear Messer Prongs,_

_That was a wonderful apology. You're forgiven._

_With love,_

_Lily _

James gaped at the page in front of him. With love. With _love_. He felt like celebrating.

_Prongs?_

_You there?_

_**Ya, sorry. I zoned out for a second.**_

_**Thanks Lily.**_

_You're welcome. _

_Truth be told, I've missed you. It's nice to be able to talk to you again._

_**Ya. Same. **_

_**So. What's wrong?**_

_Aside from my father being dead you mean?_

_**Yes, aside from that.**_

_Confused feelings._

_**For?**_

_Three people._

_**Three?**_

_Yes._

_**Who?**_

_My boyfriend, a friend, and someone I've never actually met._

_**Names, dearest Lily. I was asking for their names.**_

_Rory Capers, a friend, and someone I've never actually met._

_**That's one name. I wanted three names.**_

_Well, all you're getting is one name. You probably know the other two so I'm not going to give you their names._

_**Jeremy Cox?**_

_No._

_**Amos Diggory? Martin Glasbow?**_

_No and no._

_**Sirius Black?**_

_Ew, no._

_**Peter Pettigrew?**_

_Hell, no._

_**Remus Lupin?**_

_Not really._

_**James Potter?**_

Lily hesitated a moment before writing,

_Uh-uh._

_**Me?**_

_Well aren't you self-centered!_

_**What can I say? It's one of my charms!**_

_Hmm, I'm sure it is. But I don't actually know who you are._

_**True.**_

_Martin Glasbow?_

_**What?**_

_Are you Martin Glasbow?_

_**No. **_

_**Do you like Donald Greenback? Chad Schaal? Kiernan Pourkaviani?**_

_Absolutely not. In his dreams. Not if he were the last man on earth._

_**Well, aren't you the little bitch today?**_

_I just buried my father. I have an excuse. _

_Are you Harold Jones?_

_**Ha ha, no.**_

**.o.O.o.**

Lily stretched and looked at the clock. She had been talking with Prongs for over an hour now. Lily smiled. It felt wonderful to be able to talk with him again. Still smiling gently, Lily picked up her workbook, quill and ink bottle and carried them over to her desk. Prongs had said that he had homework to finish and Lily had let him go after making him promise to talk to her tomorrow.

Lily glanced at the clock. It was ten. She sighed, knowing that she was much too agitated to go to sleep. Lily crossed to her closet and pulled out one of her sweaters and a pair of flats and then crossed to her door and out into the hall. As she headed for the stairs, she paused outside of the door to the guest room, and then knocked on the door.

"Come in." James replied. Lily opened the door to see him sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed surrounded by school books and scrolls. She also saw the corner of what she knew was his sketch book peeking out from underneath his bed as though he had stashed it in a hurry.

"Hi." James said, pulling Lily's attention back to him.

"Hi." Lily replied, leaning against the door frame, "Um, I was going to go for a walk. Do you want to come?"

"Uh, sure." James responded, "Just give me a minute. I'll meet you downstairs." As soon as Lily left, James grinned ecstatically. He hurriedly shoved his school things back into his trunk and rescued the sketch book from underneath his bed where he had indeed hidden it. He hadn't wanted Lily to think that he was shirking his homework.

James grabbed his spring cloak from his trunk and put it on over the muggle clothes that he was already wearing; jeans and a plain red T-shirt.

He quietly padded downstairs and joined Lily by the front door. Together, they walked out of the house and turned onto the side walk. James looked up at the full moon, high in the sky, and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Nothing's wrong."

"You sighed."

"So?"

"Why would you sigh if nothing was wrong?"

James hesitated a moment before saying, "There's just this thing that the boys and I usually do on the full moon."

"The boys?"

"Remus, Sirius, Peter and I. We just have this tradition of exploring the grounds every full moon."

"You mean, you just sneak out of bed and wander around?"

"And discover secret passages and things. Way's to get around the castle quickly and easily and, well, invisibly."

"Oh." Lily replied, and they walked on in silence.

"So." James said after a minute.

"So?" Lily asked as a small smile quirked up the corners of her mouth.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"My minds racing a bit." Lily replied quietly.

"Because of … today?"

"Yeah."

"I understand."

"Do you?" Lily replied a bit bitterly, "Both your parents are still alive, aren't they?"

"Yes, thank god, but they're both aurors." James replied, keeping his gaze trained on the sidewalk ahead of him. "Thankfully, they're both retired from active duty now, but there were times when I was younger that I would worry they weren't coming home. I may never have had to attend their funerals, but I do know what it's like to lose them."

"But they came back."

"My father almost didn't once." James confided, raising his eyes to stare at the stars. "He was captured by a band of werewolves when I was twelve. They kept him alive, planning to turn him at the next full moon, but thankfully, he managed to escape. He had lost his wand, so he walked for almost two months straight just trying to reach a wizarding civilization." James gave a short, grim sort of laugh and said, "We had given up hope and were about to start arranging his funeral when he showed up at the manor, half-starved and covered in mud, blood and all sorts of other filth that none of us had any desire to even attempt to identify. Mum and I had spent the whole day crying and trying to comfort each other, so neither of us were in the best shape, but when he finally showed up…" James smiled a bit at the memory. "Mum hit him. It was the first time I'd ever seen her be violent, but before I could even register what had happened, they were kissing and crying and hugging and then Dad was hugging me and we were all filthy and the house-elves came in to see what the fuss was about, and Kapri was so happy that she hugged Dad around the knees which made him fall over and he pulled Mum and me over trying to stay on his feet and we all just ended up hugging on the floor of the kitchen. Mum and I ruined our clothing from hanging onto Dad so tightly that his mucky clothes rubbed off onto ours." James finished with a lite chuckle.

Lily couldn't help smiling at the story, but something about it was niggling at the back of her mind. Some aspects of it seemed oddly familiar.

"But he still came home." Lily replied quietly as they turned into the park where she, Rory and Severus had played as children.

"Yes." James replied, just as quietly. "We were lucky that he was able to come home, but that wasn't the point of the story. The point is that I really can sympathize. That whole series of events happened in my second year and, before Dad came home, I was an absolute wreck. Dad was missing for two months, and I was still at Hogwarts for the majority of that time, knowing that my father was missing and that there was nothing that anyone could do. I probably cried myself to sleep the majority of those nights and the only thing that kept me from completely falling apart was Sirius, Remus and Peter."

"How?"

"They watched out for me, made me eat even when I didn't want to, forced me not to quit quidditch, did my homework when I refused to so that my grades didn't slip completely, 'accidently' slipped sleeping potions into my evening pumpkin juice so that I would sleep at night, and, most importantly, refused to abandon me." James stopped walking and turned Lily to face him. She dropped her eyes to the ground. "I _know_ that things are tough now. I know how difficult that this is, but you will get through this. I will _help_ you get through this." He smiled and put a finger under her chin to force her to look up at him. "That's why I'm here in the first place."

Lily smiled slightly and James felt his stomach flop.

"Thank you." she whispered.

"For what?"

"Being you." was all she said in reply. James swallowed hard. God, she looked beautiful with the light of the full-moon shining down on them. He felt his breath catch as Lily leaned slightly forwards, raising her chin and nibbling lightly on her lip, as though she was nervous. She swayed slightly on the spot as though on the verge of a decision.

James unconsciously leaned down to kiss her just as Lily, quite suddenly, leaned forwards and rested her head against his chest. James froze for a moment in surprise before carefully wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. They stayed that way for a while, James just holding Lily as she cried silently into his shirt.

"Thanks." Lily whispered huskily a few minutes later, raising her head and wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater. She shivered slightly.

"Cold?" James asked.

"A bit." Lily admitted. "Let's go back." James nodded in agreement and undid the clasp of his cloak, settling it around her shoulders as they began to walk back the way that they came, desperately trying to forget the fact that he had very nearly kissed Lily Evans.

**.o.O.o.**

Even after they reached the house and said goodnight, Lily had difficulty going to sleep. Her brain simply refused to shut off as it ran overdrive. She sighed and flopped onto her bed, reviewing every aspect of her conversation with James and trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar.

"_This thing that the boys and I usually do on the full moon …__tradition of exploring the grounds every full moon … sneak out of bed and wander around … secret passages and things … get around the castle quickly and invisibly." _

Lily sat bold upright as a different conversation began to run through her mind.

"_Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail first transformed on the day before the September full moon … Mooney was feeling really ill … came to watch the others transform…_"

"No." Lily breathed, "He couldn't be…" She scrambled off her bed and grabbed her workbook, desperately flicking through until she found the conversation where Prongs had talked about his family.

"'I want to be an Auror because both my parents are.'" Lily read aloud, "'They leave in the middle of the night without a word and don't come back for weeks sometimes.'"

"'_Both your parents are still alive, aren't they?' 'Yes, thank god, but they're both aurors … they're both retired from active duty now … were times when I was younger that I would worry they weren't coming home_.'"

"Prongs couldn't be…" Lily looked back at the workbook in confusion, "_James Potter?_"

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: I like reviews. Reviews are nice. They motivate me to write… wink, wink, nudge, nudge. One word, that's all I'm asking!**

**Tapi**


	21. Chapter 21

*****PLEASE READ. THIS IS IMPORTANT*****

**Disclaimer: Well, Harry Potter isn't mine, so… Mind if I borrow them for a bit? I promise that I'll give them back when I'm done! *crosses fingers behind back***

**Remember: **_**Prongs**_** … **_Lily_

**Also, for people who are squeamish, this gets a little bit graphic near the end. As in gory. Just so you're forewarned.**

**And I apologize in advance. Some of you might hate me for the beginning of this chapter. Sorry!**

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 21**

_Hey. You there?_

_**Lily, its four o'clock in the morning.**_

_Yeah, but this is urgent._

_**Alright. What is it?**_

Lily took a deep breath and wrote, _Are you James Potter?_

James sat bolt upright, staring at the page in front of him. He nervously picked up his quill and wrote, _**What makes you say that?**_

_Well, I was talking with him and he mentioned some stuff about his parents and about the full moon and it all seemed to fit exactly with what you were saying about your family._

James felt like hitting himself very hard on the head for ever being stupid enough to bring up his parents with Lily_**.**_

_**But what does the full moon have to do with anything?**_

_Well, I overheard a conversation that he had at the end of last year about the marauders and he was telling this story about you all being animagus and about how you explore on the full moon and stuff, and then, tonight, James was talking about this tradition that he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter have of exploring the castle on the full moon. It would provide an explanation as to how you managed to find all the secret passages and how you're able to know everything, and how you actually manage to pull the pranks without getting caught._

_So, are you James?_

Shit. How could he have been such an idiot?... Wait a minute…

_**If I really were James Potter and I were trying to conceal the fact that I was Prongs, do you think that I would stupid enough to talk about the same stuff that you and I talk about?**_

_Well, probably not. It all just seemed to fit rather well._

_**Come on, Lily. Give me a bit of credit. And anyways, didn't you already guess James?**_

_True. _Lily wrote, sighing, although she wasn't completely convinced. _And we had agreed that this was a Potter-free zone. _

_Sorry to bother you._

_**It's fine**_**.** James wrote back sadly. _**You can bother me anytime you want.**_

**.o.O.o.**

_May, 1976_

Lily knocked quietly on McGonagall's office door.

"Come in. Ah, Miss Evans," the professor said when Lily entered, "You have an appointment, don't you? Sit down, sit down. Well," McGonagall said after Lily had seated herself in the indicated chair. "Do you have any thoughts about what you would like to do after Hogwarts?"

"Um, I rather liked the sound of that St. Mungo's apprenticeship program." Lily replied.

McGonagall smiled. "I thought you might. It will be extremely difficult to get a spot, and even harder to keep it, but I think with some hard work, you might be able to pull it off." McGonagall hesitated for a moment before pulling a pamphlet out of her desk. "I think that this might also suit you. Take a look at it and let me know. I think that this could really capture your interest and that they could use your insight. I won't sign you up for any classes yet. We'll make another appointment for next Monday and we will decide your classes then."

Lily nodded and rose to leave, but stopped as McGonagall said, "Lily. This is a very serious job. If you decide that you would like to peruse it, there is no going back. If you decide on this career path, then that is it. There will be no second option. But the things that you could learn…" McGonagall left the sentence dangling, hinting at all the wonderful possibilities and the experiences that Lily could have if she chose the path outlined in the pamphlet in her hand.

**.o.O.o.**

"Hey, Lily." James said as he slid onto the bench across from her at dinner that night. "How're you doing?"

"Better." Lily replied, smiling at him. She had fallen into a bit of a depression when they returned to Hogwarts, but Mme Grafton had begun treating it right away with a mixture of counselling sessions with Professor Frosch, the divinations professor, and a small, but regular dosage of the Draught of Peace to smooth out her emotions and keep them steady.

"Good." James said, reaching for the plate of chicken and helping himself to a large portion. He had just come back from quidditch practice and he was _starving_. "Hey, you had your meeting with McGonagall today, didn't you? How'd that go?"

"Pretty good I think." Lily replied, pushing her alphabet soup around her bowl with her spoon. "We're meeting again in a week."

"Why?"

"She gave me another pamphlet for this really cool job and wanted to give me some time to think over the option."

"What job?"

"It's just this Ministry thing. But it's sort of a big deal."

"What's a big deal?" Alice asked, coming over and sliding onto the bench on one side of Lily. Frank sat down on Alice's other side.

"This job thing." Lily said vaguely, "But it's one of those jobs where you're in it for life. So it's a big decision."

"Can you tell us anything more concrete about this marvellous opportunity?" James asked curiously.

"Not much."

"Can't you at least tell us what department it's with?" Frank asked curiously.

"Um, the Department of Mysteries." Lily mumbled.

"An Unspeakable?" James asked, stunned, "You have the option to become an Unspeakable?"

"I have the option to _apply_ to become an Unspeakable. There would be tones of stuff that I'd have to go through first to actually get the job. You know, screenings and things. And then there are all these oaths to make to prevent me from talking about anything that I see down there and all sorts of other things."

"But that would be so cool!" Alice exclaimed.

"But you wanted to work at St. Mungo's." James pointed out.

"I know." Lily said, "But this would be amazing as well."

"Okay, yeah, I know, but you also need to consider how this would affect your life." James reminded her, leaning forwards. "There would be this whole part of your life that you would have to keep secret and could never tell anyone. Imagine how that would affect your relationships with your friends and your husband and things."

"You're assuming that I'm getting married." Lily pointed out.

"Fine, your partner then. I doubt that you'll go through the rest of your life without dating anyone."

"I suppose." Lily said as Black and Peter came to sit down, Remus limping painfully behind them. His leg had started to bother him again, but he adamantly refused to use the cane.

"And there's the whole 'in it for life' thing." James continued, "What if you get in there and realize that you don't actually _want_ to know all these marvellous secrets? Knowledge can be a bad thing. You would be bound by spells to prevent you from backing out and would have to work for the rest of your life in a job that you hated."

"But," Alice interjected, "I'm sure that we could all get over the fact that you couldn't talk about your job, and anyone who can't accept that you're and Unspeakable really shouldn't be dating or marrying one, and I'm sure that there are ways to get out of the job if you really hate it, although it would probably involve something to do with you losing the memories. But all that aside, how many students do you think are even offered this option? Unspeakables never retire and they can only higher so many people. This is really a one in a million situation."

"I'll think it over." Lily promised. James sighed. He really hoped that Lily didn't become an Unspeakable. Nothing good could happen in a division of the Ministry that wrapped in secrets and lies.

"Well, I'm confused." Black said, looking from James to Lily to Alice and back. "What's happened?"

"Nothing sirius." James said with a small smile.

"Original." Sirius replied, rolling his eyes, as Mary walked into the Entrance Hall with Amos Diggory.

"Oh, look." Alice said, pointing at the pair's entwined hands. "Aww, that's adorable."

"They'll make a cute couple." Lily agreed as Mary gave Diggory a quick kiss before she came over to join their table while Diggory went to sit with his fellow Hufflepuffs.

"Hello." Mary said, sliding onto the bench and casually reaching for the shepherd's pie.

"So." Alice said casually, "What's new?"

"Oh, nothing much." Mary replied coolly.

"Nothing?" Lily asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Nothing _much_." Alice corrected with a smirk. "Nothing _much_ is still something, Mary. Spill."

"Oh, fine. I decided to apply to St. Mungo's to become a healer."

"_Mary_."

"Does the name, _Amos Diggory_, mean anything to you?" Alice asked, smirk widening.

"No, not really." Mary replied innocently.

"Stop being coy and spill the beans."

"Well," Mary said with a look of fake contemplation, "Now that you mention it, he _did_ ask me to study today and, well…" She trailed off with a suggestive smirk.

"You didn't!" Lily gasped. Mary shrugged.

"You did it?" Alice asked incredulously.

"Jeez, Payne, how much of a whore do you think I am?" Mary said incredulously. "We kissed." Alice raised an eyebrow skeptically until Mary added, "A lot."

"Are you two together then?" Lily inquired.

"Mh-hm." Mary affirmed and Alice let out a whoop.

"What's the big deal?" Sirius asked. "It's just a relationship."

"But it's a _sirius_ relationship." James said with a grin.

"Well, aren't you punny." Sirius replied. Suddenly, his expression darkened as his gaze fell on five figures that were making their way from the Slytherin table and out into the Entrance Hall. Sirius grabbed his bag and stormed after them.

"What just happened?" Remus asked raising his head from his dinner. He looked over towards the doors and caught sight of what had caused Sirius to leave. "Oh, shit."

"Shit." James echoed as he also spotted them.

"Go after him?" Remus inquired.

"Yup." James replied standing and grabbing his bag.

"But I'm eating!" Peter complained.

"Come on." He grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him out of the Great Hall.

"What?" Lily asked Remus, "What's going on?" Remus just sighed and shook his head, picking up both his and Peter's bags and limping after James.

**.o.O.o.**

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sirius demanded, storming over to Franzen Scabior, Gaspar Selwyn, Brice Travers, Godfry Wilkes, and Regulus Black.

"What do you want, blood traitor?" Wilkes demanded, crossing his arms and glowering at Sirius.

"I wasn't talking to you, arsehole."

"Imaginative." Travers jeered.

"You want imaginative?" Sirius demanded with a nasty smirk, "How's this one, you flaccid miniature pork-sworded flid?"

It took the giant Slytherin a moment to figure the insult out, but once he did he flushed scarlet, drawing his wand. "Why you mangy little-"

"Little?" Sirius asked with fake horror. "That certainly wasn't your mother's opinion."

"_Cr-"_

"Stupefy!"

"I don't need your help." Sirius said without turning to face James or to thank him for knocking Travers out.

"Who said I did it for you?" James asked calmly, coming up beside his friend and training his wand on Wilkes. Remus pointed his wand at Selwyn, while Peter shakily threatened Scabior. "Tiny Travers was polluting the air with his foul mouth breathing. I was doing the school a public service. You had nothing to do with it."

"Come on." Sirius growled to Regulus, grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him into the relative privacy of the courtyard outside.

"Oh, no you don't." James said as Wilkes made to follow. "You three can take Tiny Travers here up to the hospital wing. Don't mention that we were the ones who knocked him out or Professor Slughorn might just find out about that Unforgivable curse you just used on Peter." Peter did his best impression of looking terrified and helpless, the expression that he normally wore around Slytherins anyhow.

"What curse?" Selwyn demanded angrily.

"Why, the Cruciatus curse, of course." James replied, raising an eyebrow.

"But we didn't-" Scabior began to protest hotly before Remus cut him off.

"I saw you do it. And given that I'm a prefect and an honest student who would never lie to a teacher, I'm rather inclined to believe that Old Sluggy will take my word for it." Remus smirked. "Aren't you?"

"You'll pay for this." Wilkes spat as Scabior and Selwyn scooped up their tall friend.

"Drop the threats and move along." James scoffed. "We all know you're too scared of us to actually do anything, Wilkes. Even for your _precious_ 'Dark Lord.'"

Wilkes glared, but didn't even attempt to deny the accusation.

**.o.O.o.**

"What are you doing, Reg?" Sirius asked as the school doors shut behind them.

"Why should I tell you, _blood traitor_?" Regulus spat venomously.

"Because I'm your brother." Sirius replied calmly. "Those boys are aiming to join the Death Eaters."

"Do you have a point?" Regulus asked with a smirk identical to the one that so often adorned Sirius's face.

"They're dangerous."

"Maybe I'm dangerous."

"You have difficulty killing a dust bunny." Sirius felt obliged to point out. "You are the epitome of wussiness. How the hell do you expect to become a Death Eater?"

"All you need are the right credentials." Regulus said.

"Yes." Sirius agreed, "And then you have to kill someone. _Slowly_. The ministry finally found three bodies from Death Eater initiation ceremonies. Did you know that? Ones was cutting open, and when I say open, I don't mean a few shallow slices along their arms and legs. The initiate had taken the knife and plunged it into the victims neck, drawing it down their sternum all the way to their belly button," Sirius said, miming the knife's movement. "Slicing through the intestines. Then, they cut the arms open down the bones. And the legs." Regulus began to look a little pale. "Have you ever smelt the smell of pierced intestines? Trust me, it isn't pleasant. Just imagine if you were that Death Eater, suffused in the smell of these intestines and coated in blood from spurting arteries and listening to the screaming of the witch as you dug the knife into her flesh over and over again. Because she _was_ still screaming. They found residual spells that had been keeping the witch alive. Imagine if she was just staring at you with her bright blue eyes as you sliced through her muscles, right down to the bones."

"Stop." Regulus muttered thickly. But Sirius was relentless.

"That was one body. Another one was mutilated. They dug the eyes out of the wizard's skull and cut off their ears and nose. They cut out the tongue. At first, the Mediwizards were extremely confused about the third witch. Her body was in fine condition, but considering the other two bodies, there was no way that this one was just killed with the Killing Curse." Sirius's lip was curling in disgust from what he was describing. "But then they looked in her mouth. Do you want to guess what they found, Regulus, or should I tell you?" Regulus just pressed his lips tightly together as though trying to prevent himself from throwing up. "The found two tongues in her mouth, Reg. Hers, and the other wizards. And then they found an ear, and an eye, and piece of a nose. Shall I go on?" Regulus just stared at Sirius. "They choked her with the other victims mutilated body parts, Regulus. Is that something that you really want to be a part of?"

Regulus whispered something in reply.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Sirius asked.

"It's not like I had a choice." Regulus said more clearly, pulling up his left sleeve and showing Sirius his arm.

**.o.O.o.**

"Hey." Remus said as Sirius stumbled into the dorm room. "What's wrong?" He immediately asked as Sirius slumped to the floor, his head in his hands.

"He…" Sirius trailed off, not even able to put into words what his brother had done.

"Sirius?" James asked walking over and squatting beside his friend. "What happened?"

Sirius took a deep breath. "Remember that autopsy report that St. Mungo's released about those three bodies from the Death Eater initiation ceremony?"

"Yes." James said.

"I told him about it, to… to try to scare him off. Do you know what he said?" Sirius gave a hysterical laugh. "He said, '_It's not like I had a choice_.'"

"What!?" Remus cried, staring at Sirius in shock.

"'It's not like I had a choice.'" Sirius repeated.

"You mean…?"

"He did it." Sirius nodded. "Regulus did it, all of it. All three bodies."

"Oh my god." James breathed, feeling sick. Remus was too shocked to speak and Peter, little Peter, just sat on his bed and didn't react at all.

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: Ahh, you guys are amazing! 140 reviews! But I'm greedy (as I fully admit) so… can I have more?**

**Tapi**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Well, Harry Potter isn't mine, so… Mind if I borrow them for a bit? I promise that I'll give them back when I'm done! *crosses fingers behind back***

**Remember: **_**Prongs**_** … **_Lily_

**And sorry. This chapter is mostly comprised of really short snapshot scenes. Lots of little things needed to happen. *Shrugs* What can you do?**

*****Language warning*****

**.o.O.o.**

**Chapter 22**

_June, 1976_

"Pepper Up Potion, relieves symptoms for the common cold." Alice recited. She was lying flat on the grass, her hands covering her eyes with her face scrunched up in concentration. Lily nodded after checking Alice's response against the definition given in the textbook. "Calming Draught, sooths anxiety and shock. Draught of Peace, basically the same thing. Girding Potion-"

"You'll never guess what just happened." Mary declared, sitting down on the grass next to Alice.

"Unless it has something to do with Frank or with Death Eaters, I really don't care." Alice snapped. "I'm studying."

"Amos asked me to spend a week with him this summer!" Mary cried happily.

"What?" Alice asked, sitting up quickly and staring at her friend.

"Mary, that's wonderful!" Lily declared, setting the potions book aside.

"You know why he asked you over, don't you?"

"Don't ruin this, Alice." Mary complained. Alice's mood had become progressively worse as the end of school neared, bringing with it Frank's graduation. She was not at all enthusiastic about the thought of a year without her boyfriend, especially since he was going to become an Auror and would soon be in the ranks, fighting Death Eaters.

"He only asked you, because he wants to _fuck_ you." Alice said crassly.

"Alice." Lily scolded.

"It's fine, Lily." Mary said hotly, glaring at her friend. "She's just jealous that I'll lose my virginity before _she_ does."

Alice smirked. "Who says I'm still a virgin, prude?"

"Just stop it, will you?" Lily asked tiredly.

"I am _not_ a prude!"

"Really? Well then, what's the contraception spell?" Alice inquired.

Mary worked her jaw in frustration, before angrily spitting, "Go to hell!" and getting up to return to the castle.

"You might want to learn it before you fuck him! You don't want to end up _pregnant_, do you?" Alice yelled after her.

"You're awful." Lily told her friend.

"What?"

"She was really happy and you just can't stand to see anyone enjoying themselves anymore." Lily declared, gathering her things and standing. "I think you need some time to think about what you've done."

"What, like a two year old? Don't treat me like a child."

"Then stop acting like a spoiled brat whose favorite toy was just taken away." Lily shot back. "Use these last two weeks to spend time with Frank rather than moping around and biting everyone's head off. I get it. It's hard to lose someone. But that doesn't mean that everyone else has to suffer too." Lily shouldered her bag and returned to the castle.

**.o.O.o.**

"Here we go." Sirius said, plunking the pile of books onto the library table next to Peter.

James eyed the stack warily. "This might take a while."

"Remind me again why are we doing this as a potion, Prongs?" Remus asked, pulling the top book towards him.

"Because, Moony, we decided it was the easiest way to make sure that we get everyone." James replied, adjusting his glasses, opening his book to the index at the back and beginning to scan it for something that would work. "We dose them over the course of the day and it takes effect the next morning."

"But none of us are any good at potions." Peter complained glaring at the offending stack of books in front of him. "Christ, Prongs, this'll take _ages_."

"Then stop complaining, Wormtail, and get started." Sirius declared. "The sooner we're out of here the better." he added with a shudder.

"What? You allergic to knowledge or something, Padfoot?" Remus joked, jotting a few notes down onto his parchment.

"No," Sirius replied, mock glaring at his friend, "But the fewer people who see us in this library the better. It's not like Wormtail and I frequent the place."

"True enough." James replied. "Oh, this might work." He pushed the book towards Remus, who was, between the four of them, the best at potions.

"Maybe." Remus said, looking over the recipe and chewing on the end of his quill, "But the wormwood might cause some issues."

"Why don't we recruit Lily?" James asked, reaching for his sketchbook.

"No." Remus said stubbornly. "We can do this on our own. It just might take a while."

**.o.O.o.**

Lily frowned in concentration, flicking her wand the way she vaguely remembered James showing her back at the beginning of the year and grinned in satisfaction as the table turned into a fat pig. Still grinning, she directed it around the empty classroom before returning it to its original spot and original state.

"You're getting good at that." Lily whipped her head around to glare at Severus, who was leaning against the doorway.

"Can I help you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe." he said. "I think you know where my allegiances lie."

"In the war, you mean?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded seriously. "With You-Know-Who." He nodded again. "And?" Lily asked, crossing her arms. "Why should that matter?"

"I just thought I'd let you know," Severus said carefully, "That he's been watching the top students here and has his eye on you."

Lily froze, before asking frostily, "Is that a threat?"

"I don't know. Is it?" Severus asked before turning and walking away.

**.o.O.o.**

"Any sign of the Marauder's prank yet?" Mary asked as they sat down to dinner two days before the end of school. Exams had just finished for the year.

Lily shook her head. "Looks like it's going to be a last day thing this year."

"Um, Mary?" Alice asked, coming towards her two friends, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things. It was mean and…" Alice took a nervous breath. "And you were right. I _was_ jealous. Frank and I… _haven't_ yet and… well, he'll be leaving soon, and I'm just so scared that he'll get hurt, and I'm sorry, Mare." Alice declared, "I didn't mean to hurt you. Well I _did_," she amended, "But I'm sorry just the same."

"It's okay." Mary replied with a small smile. "To be honest, I'm scared too. About, well, _it_, and also about Amos. He'll be going into the Ministry and you know how they get targeted."

"Well, at least we can be scared together." Alice said with a smile.

"God, you two are cheesy." Lily laughed. "Just sit down and have dinner, will you?"

Alice made a face. "I don't know if I want to. The food's been weird today."

"Food?" Black asked, coming up next to Alice, followed closely by the other three boys, "Taste weird? Never!"

"It does, trust me." Alice said, but she sat down anyway and took some chicken. She made a face after her first bite. "Weird."

"Actually, I know what you mean." James said as he sat down next to Lily. Her stomach flopped when his hand brushed hers as he reached for the bowl of mushroom soup. "I actually went down to the kitchen to ask the elves about it because I was concerned, and, apparently, someone had set off a dung bomb in the corridor outside the kitchen and some of the smoke made its way into the cooking meat and the other food."

"Eww!" Mary declared, pulling a face.

Remus shrugged. "Yes it's gross, but it's non-lethal."

"An foodsh foo." Black added with his mouth full.

"You three are demented." Lily said, shaking her head.

"Now why would you say that?" James asked, his eyes glinting with amusement behind his square lenses.

"You just said one sentence, but spilt it up between you. It's like your one person."

"Peter didn't say anything." Mary pointed out.

"Peter doesn't talk much." Lily pointed out. "No offence Peter." The boy just shrugged in response, staring glumly at his plate.

"Is something wrong, Peter?" Lily asked concerned.

"Just worried 'bout exams." he muttered. Lily smiled in sympathy.

**.o.O.o.**

"Oh my god!" Mary screamed, waking Lily the next morning.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked groggily from the other bed.

"Look at the floor." Lily sat up and looked. The floor was covered in flowers. Three types of flowers to be exact: Lily-of-the-Valley, Honeysuckle, and Ambrosia.

"What the hell?" Lily asked confused. She leaned down and brushed an Ambrosia plant with her hand. "They're real." she breathed.

"Look!" Mary cried happily, pointing to the floor behind her. A trail of Lily-of-the-Valley went from her to her bed. She took a few more steps forwards and more flowers sprouted in her wake. "They grow behind me."

Lily stood up and took a few steps away from her bed and looked back to see Ambrosia plants dotting the floor behind her, their pink flowers swaying slightly. Lily grinned. "How much do you want to bet that Alice'll trail Honeysuckle?"

"Shut up." Alice muttered. "I'm sleeping."

Lily smiled and waded through the flowers, getting ready for the day.

**.o.O.o.**

Downstairs, the common room looked like a garden. James couldn't help grinning from his corner at the success of their potion. He only wished that he was trailing something other than Daffodils. They weren't particularly masculine. But then again, Sirius was trailing Edelweiss, so it could be worse.

Sirius glared at the white, star shaped flowers behind him. "Why was this a good idea, again?"

"You thought it would be amusing." Remus said, walking down the stairs from the boy's dorm.

"Yeah, but at least you got miniature Dogwoods. Durability. And those aren't flowers, really, they're trees."

"But aren't you glad to have Edelweiss? Daring and noble courage? That's good, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Sirius said grudgingly. "It could be worse."

"Yeah, like unrequited love." James said, pointing at the yellow flowers surrounding his feet. Sirius smirked.

"Anyone know what these are?" Peter asked, pointing to the small berry plants around him.

"I think that they're Bilberries." Remus said, crouching to get a better look. "Weird. They mean treachery." Peter paled slightly, but the others didn't notice. "Guess the potion has some glitches." Remus shrugged.

"Guess so." Peter said with a nervous smile.

"Hello boys!" Mary sing-songed as she and Lily descended into the common room.

"Lily-of-the-Valley and Ambrosia?" James said, raising an eyebrow. "Sweetness and the returning of love?"

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"Flower meanings." Sirius replied. "We needed to know them for our Herbology exam."

"Cool." Mary said, grinning. "I'm sweet!"

"What are Honeysuckle?" Lily asked curiously.

"Bonds of love." Remus replied.

"Aww! Alice loves Frank!" Mary crooned.

"Tell me something I don't know." Lily replied with a grin.

**.o.O.o.**

Lily smiled, looking around the Great Hall that day at breakfast. The flowers really were beautiful and, aside from a few minor errors, they were all accurate representations of peoples character.

James kept insisting that Snape had the wrong flower, given that he was trailing Love-Lies-Bleeding, but Lily wasn't so sure. They seemed to suit him perfectly.

She did rather enjoy seeing Dumbledore surrounded by Sage plants and McGonagall surrounded by Irises, as well as the other teachers. Dumbledore went so far as to sprinkle crushed sage on his morning eggs. Professor Slughorn was taking the opportunity to gather the fresh herbs and store them in cloth packets for potion ingredients.

The note, of course, came at dinner that night:

_Hello fellow Hogwartians:_

_This year has been magnificent, really, it has. Some of you are getting close to finding us out, and good luck to the rest of you buggers who're falling behind. Actually, one of you has already guessed who we are. No, no, we won't tell you who. You'll just mob the person and try to force them to tell you. _

_So. Most of you are probably wondering: Flowers? Yeah, it's weird, but it shows who you really are. Who has secrets and who doesn't. Well, it shows it to those of you who actually know your Herbology. See? We're good boys. We make you study. Some of you now know everyone's personalities. The rest of you lost out hugely. _

_Well, this year has gone fast. So much has happened since that awful start to term. Marlene came out and finally found true happiness, the Shrieking Shack became even louder than normal, James Potter actually went on a date, and, most importantly to us, Prongsie found love, and made quite a bit of headway with his crush too! You really shouldn't be surprised to find a Mrs. Prongs attending school next year! _

_Well, until September, Hogwarts. _

_Messeres Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs _

**.o.O.o.**

_What was that?_

_**What was what?**_

_You have a crush?_

_**Sort of.**_

_Who?_

_**Can you really not figure it out?**_

…

_Me?_

_**Is it such a surprise? I have told you on multiple occasions how much you and this friendship mean to me.**_

_Wow. I just never even thought…_

_**Is it okay?**_

_No, yeah it's fine._

_**Fine?**_

_Great. It's great._

_**Really?**_

_Yeah, it's just…_

_Well, nothing can happen, really._

_**Why not?**_

_I have a boyfriend._

_**Right.**_

_And I don't even know who you are. I'm not completely convinced that you're not James Potter-_

_**Lily, I'm not. You need to stop saying that. I'm not. I've told you multiple times, so please believe me.**_

_**I**_

_**Am**_

_**Not**_

_**James**_

_**Potter**_

_Alright. Sorry, Prongs. _

_It's just that everything seems to fit._

_Especially considering the crush…_

_**Well, I'm not him.**_

_Okay. Sorry._

…

_But we just can't._

_**I know. Sorry.**_

_Me too._

**.o.O.o.**

**A/N: Ahh, you guys are amazing! So many reviews! But I'm greedy (as I fully admit) so… can I have more?**

**And for those of you who are curious:**

**Lupin – Dogwood (durability)**

**Sirius – Edelweiss (daring, noble courage)**

**Peter – Bilberry (treachery)**

**James – Daffodil (regard, respect, unrequited love, you're the only one, the sun is always shining when I'm with you)**

**Lily – Ambrosia (your love is reciprocated)**

**Snape – Love-Lies-Bleeding (hopeless, not heartless)**

**Frank – Gladiolus (Strength of character, honor, conviction) **

**Alice – Honeysuckle (Devoted affection, bonds of love)**

**Mary – Lily-of the Valley (sweetness, tears of the Virgin Mary, return to happiness, humility, you've made my life complete)**

**Dumbledore – Sage (wisdom, long life)**

**McGonagall – Iris (your friendship means so much to me, warmth of affection, faith, hope, wisdom and valour)**

**Tapi**


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